Flying Vehicles Considered for Statewide Emergency Use in Utah

A California eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) vehicle maker is looking to create a statewide flying capability for special-purpose first responder craft.

Jump Aero and the Utah Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics, have agreed to work together to determine what it would take to create full state coverage using Jump Aero's flight-based first responder operations.

Utah is looking to determine how many Jump JA-1 Pulse personal electric aerial vehicles (EAV) they would need to purchase to provide life-saving response times throughout the state and details of a potential collaboration between Utah’s current first response organization and Jump Aero.

"We have been following Jump Aero's progress for a number of years and are excited to formalize a working relationship to bring this technology to Utah,” said Paul Damron, advanced air mobility manager, Utah Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics. 

Jump Aero recently received $3.6 million in contracts from the U.S. Air Force to accelerate the company’s technology development. Part of the funding is targeted to fund the first full-scale prototype.

The military backing comes from the Air Force Research Laboratory, the primary scientific research and development center for the U.S. Air Force. The company promises a speed of up to 285 mph.

Related:Flying Vehicle Sold As Air Ambulance; Backed by US Air Force

The first orders for the JA1 Pulse EAV came from Falck Ambulance Service, a global first-response business with operations in 26 countries.

A venture firm in Australia also has ordered 10 of the Jump Aero eVTOLs to provide rural emergency medical response to people in remote rural areas in Australia.

Electro Ventures, an entrepreneur-led venture holdings company focused on sustainable innovation, already had been working with Jump Aero through Electro Aero, one of the venture firm’s companies.

As part of the deal, the venture firm intends to represent Jump Aero throughout the Asia Pacific region.

EAVs are being considered for numerous first responder services. For example, Volocopter, a Germany-based flying vehicle company, recently agreed to partner with Bristow Group in Houston, Texas, to build urban air mobility ecosystems, including using the flying vehicles for search and rescue and medevac.

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