South African pilots‚ a flight engineer‚ doctor and advanced life support paramedic made history at the weekend by performing the first airborne medical evacuation of a critically ill baby from the island of St Helena. ER24’s aeromedical service‚ ER24 Global Assist‚ in collaboration with the government of St Helena‚ successfully touched down on the island’s new airport aboard a Dassault Falcon 20 jet – despite the airport being closed due to dangerous and unpredictable wind shear conditions.The crew were taken to Jamestown Hospital after landing on Friday‚ where they assessed the critically ill baby. Due to safety precautions‚ they stayed overnight and departed on a return journey to Cape Town where the baby was transported to hospital on Saturday.“It was a long trip‚ but the baby is doing well. The baby and mom were safely handed over to the receiving doctor at the Hospital‚” said Ilze Milbert‚ ER24’s Global Assist Fixed Wing Coordinator.The jet is equipped with two state-of-the-art intensive care beds with monitors‚ ventilators and enough space to ensure paramedics and doctors have access to patients. There is also enough room for a family member‚ in this case the infant’s mother‚ to accompany a patient.St Helena has for decades relied on ships as a means of transport to and from the island‚ a journey that takes days. The recently completed St Helena Airport has been found‚ after test flights‚ to be dangerous due to severe wind shear conditions that make landings difficult. This was the case during a recent test flight using a British Airways Boeing 737 from South Africa.The aeromedical team‚ which included three pilots‚ a flight engineer‚ a medical doctor and advanced life support paramedic‚ had their work cut out for them‚ said ER24.“They knew that the airport had unpredictable wind shears. In an article posted by British Conservative Peer‚ Lord Ashton on the 2nd of June 2016‚ he wrote that his visit to the airport has now been postponed indefinitely‚ amidst serious concerns that the airport is too dangerous to use because of vigorous and unpredictable winds. ‘The official opening of the new airport on the island has also now been put on hold indefinitely‚’ he wrote‚” said ER24.The jet departed from Lanseria International Airport in Johannesburg and made a technical stopover at Walvisbay‚ in Namibia‚ where the crew evaluated weather conditions at St Helena. – TMG Digital..