Hyde County, North Carolina, paramedic Quinn Reece piloted a Pivotal BlackFly eVTOL aircraft directly to an emergency call Jun. 27, 2026. The county’s emergency services department says the feat is the first of its kind in the United States. (Hyde County Emergency Services Photo) Reported US 1st: eVTOL aircraft transports responder to medical emergency site Pivotal’s BlackFly brought help 20 minutes faster than the ground ambulance. By Mark Huber In the first application of its kind, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft recently transported a first responder to a medical emergency. Hyde County, North Carolina, paramedic Quinn Reece flew a Pivotal BlackFly eVTOL directly to an emergency call on Jun. 27, 2026, rendering advanced life support assistance a full 20 minutes before a ground ambulance arrived. Hyde County is a sparsely populated and geographically challenging, 1,500-square-mile jurisdiction adjacent to the Pamlico Sound. Reece carried essential medical equipment, including a cardiac monitor, airway supplies, and a primary response bag, allowing assessment and treatment to begin immediately upon landing. “Every decision we make is about getting advanced care to our citizens faster,” says Hyde County Emergency Services (EMS) Chief Brook Cox. “These missions proved that we can overcome distance, reach patients sooner, and redefine emergency response in rural communities.” The flight came after months of planning and training, including 300 practice sorties. The application is a joint venture between Hyde County EMS, Code Blue Resources, and Pivotal to develop the nation’s first concept of operations (CONOPS) for integrating eVTOLs into emergency response. Akute Networks, a nonprofit aviation program manager headquartered in Malibu, California, assisted with the development of the operational framework, protocols, and flight procedures. Reece flew two actual missions as part of the CONOPS from her base in Engelhard on the North Carolina coast: one involving a patient with diabetes and the other assisting a person with a breathing problem. Flight time to both scenes lasted under eight minutes. Reece, who began her EMS career in 2018, described both landing zones as very tight with lots of obstacles. “The places I trained at were a lot harder than when I landed in someone’s yard,” says Reece, who trained in the Pivotal simulator and in the aircraft and did not have any prior piloting experience. Pivotal flew its first proof-of-concept aircraft in 2011. The next model, the Pivotal BlackFly, is a limited-production tandem tiltwing with fly-by-wire controls. The Part 103 ultralight offers a combined pilot-and-cargo payload of 200 lb., a range of 20 miles or 20 minutes, and a top speed of 63 mph. Charging time is 75 minutes with a 240V charger. The aircraft can be transported on a 16-ft. trailer and reassembled in less than 30 minutes. The company’s current production model is the Helix. Because Hyde County operates the BlackFly as part of governmental functions—emergency response and the protection of life and property—the ultralight is registered under FAA Part 91, not Part 103, and has an N number. Under public aircraft operations, the government agency can use pilots who do not hold an FAA pilot certificate, because the agency assumes responsibility for pilot qualification and can train and self-certify the pilot as competent. “Our goal wasn’t simply to prove an eVTOL could respond to a 911 call—it was to prove that advanced life support could reach patients sooner,” says Carla Baker, president of Code Blue Resources. “This project demonstrated far more than the successful integration of aviation into EMS. It validated a new model for emergency response—one where experienced paramedics can be safely trained to fly, respond, and begin advanced patient care sooner in communities where time and geography have always been barriers.” Pivotal recently announced it is participating in the Multistate Collaborative eVTOL Integration Pilot Program led by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the FAA. “I just hope that this will grow,” says Reece, who adds that the experience has kindled her interest in obtaining a pilot’s license. Mark Huber is an aviation journalist with more than two decades of experience in the vertical flight industry.
