Metro Aviation and BETA Technologies Demonstrate Electric ALIA Aircraft in North Carolina for ECU Health
Why It MattersThe demonstration signals growing momentum for electric aircraft adoption in air medical transport, as operators test cost and connectivity benefits for rural health care networks.
Metro Aviation and BETA Technologies demonstrated BETA's all-electric ALIA conventional takeoff and landing aircraft in eastern North Carolina in September, part of the eLIFT-NC project giving ECU Health a firsthand look at how electric aviation could support health care and emergency response. The North Carolina Department of Transportation's eLIFT-NC project falls under the U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, exploring medical and disaster-response applications for advanced air mobility; during the campaign, BETA completed 18 eIPP flights totalling 1,336 nautical miles, with the ALIA CTOL transporting a field medical station and supplies between communities and demonstrating connectivity between the Research Triangle and the coast.
Metro Aviation has partnered with ECU Health EastCare since 2013, providing aviation operations for the health system's critical care transport program, and currently operates eight aircraft for EastCare supporting critical care transport across eastern North Carolina, where ECU Health serves approximately 1.4 million people across 29 primarily rural counties. Todd Stanberry, vice president at Metro Aviation, said the partnership with BETA has been about finding a more affordable way to expand access to air medical transport, while Trish Baise, chief nursing executive at ECU Health, said the future of rural health care will be shaped by partnerships bringing innovation closer to the communities served. Simon Newitt, head of sales and support at BETA Technologies, said the companies have worked together for several years on how electric aviation can serve real-world medical missions.
The North Carolina campaign is the latest milestone in Metro's partnership with BETA Technologies, which began in February 2023; Metro has placed a deposit-backed order for up to 20 ALIA vertical takeoff and landing aircraft as it evaluates how electric aviation will complement its traditional air medical operations.
