According to the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Notícias on Tuesday, which quoted data from the country’s National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), of the 33 hospital units that have facilities to accept helicopters, 10 have a ban on landing at night, including Lisbon’s Santa Maria hospital which needs to use the Lisbon military airports.
The prohibition was enforced by the authority which is responsible for certification and supervision.
In addition to lack of signalling, the authority said that it is also due to “regular inspection.”
According to the newspaper, this is happening for more than twenty years after the start of the air ambulance service.