William to become an air ambulance copter pilot

An East Anglian air ambulance takes off yesterday from Cambridge airport in eastern England. Prince William, second-in-line to the throne, will start training next month as an air ambulance helicopter pilot in eastern England and will start work next spring. Inset: William and Kate  will be splitting their time between their Kensington Palace apartment and Anmer Hall in Norfolk.

Reuters/AFP/London

Britain’s Prince William, second-in-line to the throne, is to start work as an air ambulance helicopter pilot next year, his office said yesterday.

William, 32, was previously a search and rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force and took part in over 150 search and rescue operations.

William will be based at Cambridge and Norwich Airports in eastern England, flying both day and night shifts, his office said in a statement.

Starting as co-pilot, he can qualify as a helicopter commander after a minimum of five months training, ending in 14 examinations and a flight test.

William starts training next month and will be a formal employee of Bond Air Services following qualification, making him the first member of the royal family in the direct line of succession to sign an employment contract with a civilian employer, his office said.

The Duke of Cambridge, as he is formally titled, will draw an annual salary – £40,000 ($67,500, €50,500) – but will donate it in full to charity.

In an interview with CNN last August, shortly after the birth of his first child, Prince George with his wife Kate, William said that although fatherhood had been an emotional experience, he was excited about returning to work.

“As a few fathers might know, I’m actually quite looking forward to going back to work. I’m just hoping that the first few shifts I go back I don’t have any night jobs,” he joked.

“The duke is greatly excited by this opportunity,” a Kensington Palace spokesman said. “He regards his work with the RAF search-and-rescue force as having been an exceptional privilege, and is hugely motivated by the idea of being able to continue to help people in difficult and challenging situations.”

In his new job, William, Kate and George, who turned one last month, are expected to split their time between their newly refurbished Kensington Palace apartment in London and Anmer Hall, a country house on Queen Elizabeth II’s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England. Cambridge lies between the two.

The new role will be his main job but his rota will take into account his royal duties in Britain and abroad.

Road traffic crashes make up the majority of the air ambulance’s call-outs but they also have to respond to sporting injuries and other accidents.

“The pilot is part of the team and he will be looking after patients with conditions that would be horrifying for many and some pilots may not like that very much,” said the EAAA’s medical director, Alastair Wilson. “Compared to his role as a search-and-rescue pilot, he may be dealing with more injury patients than he is used to, but I’m sure he will adapt very well to that.”

Each air ambulance helicopter carries a pilot, a doctor and a paramedic.

William would work four days on, four days off.

Each day the pilot will have to check his aircraft over and be aware of the local weather conditions.