Press Release

Issued by DEA.

June 29, 2011

OE-FAI, a new DA42MPP was ferried from Wiener Neustadt (LOAN) to Retford (EGNE) by Captain Chris Dawes and First Officer Sam Weston.

OE-FAI is the first DA42MPP to join the DEA Fleet. With its ability to support a wide range of external sensors and with several features specifically added to support surveillance and reconnaissance missions the DA42MPP is a carbon efficient platform for the 21st century.

The aircraft arrived at 1810UTC on the 29th June after a 5 hours 45 minute non stop flight. The aircraft was 'escorted' by OE-FAH, a DA42NG piloted by Henrik Burkal, Diamond UK's managing director, who had flown the ferry crew out to LOAN.

With electronic 'stormscope' weather detection and a traffic alerting system, both of which are displayed on the G1000 flight management system in real time, the aircraft is able to handle convective weather and conflicting traffic with ease.

DEA's DA42MPP has been earmarked for a variety of pilot projects and evaluation programs, some of which are being directly managed by DEA and some jointly between Diamond UK and DEA.