Regulatory concerns have left air ambulances unable to land at some of B.C.’s busiest hospitals, CTV News has learned.

The Provincial Health Services Authority has confirmed Helijet, the company contracted to transport critically injured patients via helicopter, has been barred from landing on a certain classification of helipad since Friday.

Unfortunately, it’s the classification used at seven hospitals on the South Coast and Vancouver Island, including Vancouver General Hospital, Royal Columbian Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital.

“This is not an optimal situation but it’s a manageable situation,” said Linda Lupini, executive vice-president of PHSA.

“Because of weather and other issues we always have other ways of transporting patients. We usually land at a close helipad for our helicopters and then transport by ground.”

For the time being, patients bound for Royal Columbian or Surrey Memorial are being dropped off at Pitt Meadows Regional Airport, about 21 kilometres away, and transported the rest of the way via ground ambulance.

With lights and sirens activated, the drive takes about 15 minutes to either hospital, Lupini said.

“The patients, of course, are with critical care paramedics who are very advanced in terms of their licensing and what they’re able to do, so the patient is under care that entire 15-minute ride with highly trained paramedics,” she told CTV News.

The added wait is still potentially significant, however, given how frequently Helijet’s services are required. The company made 230 ambulance transfers to Royal Columbian and Vancouver General alone last year.

The issues that led to the temporary ban concern helicopter performance requirements for H1 helipads. Transport Canada has deemed Helijet’s aircraft, the twin-engine Sikorsky S76 ambulance, in non-compliance.

But Helijet, which has been operating air ambulances in the province for 18 years, said it has a different interpretation of the rules.

“We’ve suspended service for now pending working with Transport, which we are doing, and it’s really an administrative issue more than anything else at the moment,” said Rick Hill, vice-president of commercial and business programs for the company.

“We believe that we are in compliance, and I guess that’s what we have to demonstrate.”

The company is meeting with Transport Canada officials in Ottawa later this week to work on a solution, Hill added.

In the meantime, Helijet is applying for an exemption to the rule that would allow it to continue landing and taking off from H1 helipads as it has for years.

“We’re hoping within 24 to 48 hours the exemption will be there and it will be back up and running. The issue will still be being dealt with on a larger scale,” Hill said.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said the areas of concern involve power and visibility.

“In the event of an emergency where power’s lost on one engine, Transport Canada standards require the aircraft to be able to fly away or land safely on the remaining engine,” said Bill Yearwood, manager of aviation accident investigations.

“The issue of visibility has to do with the pilot’s ability to see the target in the event of an engine failure.”

The board has no record of investigations relating to any such problems in B.C., Yearwood added.

“The issues are of a very narrow operating environment and the risk of that happening has not been realized in the region,” he told CTV News.