Kent Air Ambulance

The trust was founded by Kate Chivers (in whose honour the helicopter was named),[3] and was originally called the South East Thames Air Ambulance.

[4] Initially operated on a part-time basis, the air ambulance became a seven-day service in January 2000 and shortly afterwards moved from its original Rochester Airport base to Marden near Maidstone.

In July 1998, the air ambulance, a Eurocopter AS355 Twin Squirrel, registration G-MASK,[10] crashed in good weather after colliding with power cables near Burham while returning to Rochester Airport following an aborted call to attend a road accident.

[10] All three crew – the pilot, Graham Budden, and two paramedics, Tony Richardson and Mark Darby – were killed as the helicopter burst into flames on impact.

On 19 February 2004, following a civil case brought by the pilot's widow to the High Court in Manchester, it was ruled that the crash was caused by mechanical failure not, as had been suggested, flying low for fun, and ordered compensation to be paid.