Lifeguard Delta call sign

[FlaZoomie]

Heard a radio call today of Lifeguard Delta # # # today. Very American sounding radio voice. You think it was a German aircraft or does DAL do charters?

 

[chperplt]

Where does the German thing come into play? What am I missing??

Of course Delta does charters, but that's not what the lifeguard call sign in used for...

 

[SSDD]

I think we need a little more info. Most Delta pilots sound very "American." In general adding "lifeguard" to the call sign indicates some medical urgency. From time to time we use it when transporting organs that need to get to a patient fairly quickly.

 

[FlaZoomie]

TO CLARIFY:

I fly for an air ambulance company, so I know all about the Lifeguard call sign. If an airliner has an medical situtation onboard, they do not just start calling themselves a Lifeguard flight, they just state they have a medical emergency and need priority.

With respect to the German reference, aircraft of German registation start with a "D" ( like we in the US start with "N," hence our full call sign is Lifeguard November _____).

The pilot sounding American was to say that the did not have a non-Americna acent, so I didn't think I was listening to a German aircraft flying around the US.

 

[CDogg]

I know from flying air ambulance we would often pick up patients coming in from over seas on any one of a number of majors. Perhaps this could be the situation?

 

[j41driver]

The airlines often carry organs, etc that require expedited shipment...hence, the "Lifeguard" call sign. There wasn't a sick person on the airplane that had them using the call sign.

 

[Booker]

The airlines often carry organs, etc that require expedited shipment...hence, the "Lifeguard" call sign.

Exactly; it's not at all uncommon. At my last gig, we had a route on which we were pretty much guaranteed to carry corneal tissue.

 

[Hobit]

The airlines often carry organs, etc that require expedited shipment...hence, the "Lifeguard" call sign. There wasn't a sick person on the airplane that had them using the call sign.

I fly 121 and have carrried some body parts and when it is for transplant we use lifeguard. Really 'parts the seas' even in major hub airports.

 

[Hung Start]

Used to do a fair amount of Organ Bank flying. They would not let us use the motto in the call sign.

Motto:

"You die, we fly"


Hung

 

[WalterSobchak]

I fly 121 and have carrried some body parts and when it is for transplant we use lifeguard. Really 'parts the seas' even in major hub airports.

Which really got me wondering one day while I was amending a strip with ZOA flight data...who's to stop us (dispatch) from filing a "Lifeguard" callsign when we have a flight into a hub that is running behind with lots of connections at stake...I mean, unless you have a Fed onboard, who's gonna check whether or not you had organs?

(I know...it would be a horrible thing to do and I'm going to Hell for even thinking it.)