June 27, 2026 · Hyde County, North Carolina

A 911 call.
A flying paramedic.

In Hyde County, a paramedic now answers emergencies by air. Akute is the nonprofit that makes it reachable for counties and towns that could never afford a legacy air program — the infrastructure, standards, software, and services to fly advanced aircraft and drones, built and owned as a federated network of agencies.

Become a member See what it does
Flying today in Hyde County, NC 501(c)(3) nonprofit
5×
The lives you can save when response time collapses.
4×
The coverage area of a ground unit, from the same station.
2×
Faster to the patient than driving there.
~1×
The cost. Comparable to the ground unit it multiplies.
What flight does for public safety

Save more lives. Go farther, faster.

Advanced aircraft are ready for everyday emergency response. What's been missing is a way for a public agency to operate them — legally, safely, and affordably. That's what Akute builds.

Quick response by air

Flying paramedics

A paramedic who flies to the scene covers four times the area, twice as fast, at a cost comparable to a ground quick-response vehicle. In a cardiac arrest, minutes are the treatment.

Drones + telemedicine

Drones for EMS

AEDs, epinephrine, and blood delivered ahead of the ambulance — with a live telemedic guiding bystanders until the crew arrives. The first minutes of care, before the first unit is on scene.

Rotorcraft

Helicopters for all

Public helicopter capability for counties that could never afford a traditional air-medical program — public aircraft, public mission, operated under the county's own authority.

Simplified operations

Lower cost to standby

Modern simplified aircraft can be flown by trained paramedics and deputies — not a scarce class of career pilots. Standby costs less, launches happen faster, and more lives are saved.

Akute OS

The software expression of a network built in the open.

Akute OS is where the standards, safety cases, and operational controls of a Public Aircraft Operation live as working software — not binders in a drawer. It's the shared platform the whole federation runs on, so what one county learns, every member inherits.

Your agency holds the authority; Akute OS carries the operational weight — mission authorization, airspace, training records, and compliance — kept transparent and auditable, and shaped by the members who fly on it. Collaboration and trust, made operational.

  • Declared PAO frameworkYour county's own Public Aircraft Operation, declared and documented — the fastest lawful path to public flight.
  • Standards as softwareSafety standards and operational parameters coded directly into the platform, kept current by expert governance.
  • Operational controlMission authorization, airspace coordination, and live oversight from the Operational Control Center.
  • County setup, done for youLocalized maps, landing zones, and safety cases — customized templates that make your county operational.
  • Any aircraftVehicle-agnostic by design: drones, simplified rotorcraft, helicopters, and the aircraft still to come.
What's already real

This isn't a concept. It's flying.

On June 27, 2026, Hyde County, North Carolina flew the first mission of a new kind of public aircraft operation. It's the proving ground for a model built to travel.

The Hyde County program

  • Public Aircraft Operations framework declared, with the county as the operator.
  • Two deployed PAO aircraft, N924LQ and N909HB, in service.
  • A four-partner operating model — county, aircraft, training, and equipment — running today.
  • Built from the start so other counties can adopt the same model.

Come see how the first PAO of its kind is actually flown.

Visit the Hyde County program →
N924LQ — the first registered aircraft of the Hyde County program.
About Akute

A nonprofit operator, aligned with the public it serves.

Akute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We work as an Aviation Program Manager: we build the standards, operational control, and software that let a public agency adopt advanced aviation safely and lawfully, and we operate that layer on the agency's behalf.

The legal authority to fly — Public Aircraft Operations — stays with the public agency. Because we're a nonprofit, our incentives are aligned with saving lives and serving communities, not with selling a product or returning capital to investors.

Status501(c)(3) nonprofit
RoleAviation Program Manager
What we operateAircraft · drones · telemedics
Headquartered inMalibu, California
Team & footprintDC · WA · OR · NC
Operating todayHyde County, NC
Mathias Thomsen
Co-Founder & President
Scaled regulated technology platforms at Uber. CEO and co-founder of venture-backed companies.
Jonathan Evans
Co-Founder & Aviation Director
HEMS pilot and flight instructor; exited tech CEO. Founder of Skyward (acquired by Verizon). Life Flight and NASA Advanced Air Mobility.
Travis Mason
Policy & Regulations Director
Former Chief Policy Officer at Merlin Labs and policy lead at Google Wing. Former Airbus VP of Certification & Regulatory Affairs.
Bri O'Neil
Systems Engineering Director
10+ years in uncrewed and safety-critical systems — command and control, detect-and-avoid, ground control, and flight test. Deep FAA engagement.
Dual use

EMS stations: the public air mobility hubs of tomorrow.

Every station, landing zone, and airspace integration built for 911 today is the groundwork for public air mobility tomorrow — and every emergency flight builds the trust, standards, and network that make it possible.

Half the time

Door-to-door travel time cut by up to 50% across the region.

Low impact

Electric, quiet, and built for communities.

Safety first

FAA-aligned automation and certified public operations.

For everyone

Accessible, affordable, simple to use — a public network, not a luxury.

Tomorrow: ride to your local station → fly across the region → ride the last mile.

Where do you fit?

Join the federated network.

Agencies join and shape the shared infrastructure. Technology partners build with us. And donors fund what the market won't.

01 · Public safety agencies

Join the federated network

Counties, EMS agencies, fire departments, and sheriffs: become a member to reach the shared infrastructure, standards, and software — and help shape them. From the white paper to a full public aircraft program of your own.

Explore membership →
02 · Industry

Technology partners

Aircraft makers and technology companies: work with the team defining how advanced aircraft enter everyday public service.

Partner with Akute →
03 · Donors

Give to the Akute Foundation

Philanthropy funds the standards, aircraft adaptation, and operating model that no market will build. Your gift becomes capability that saves lives.

Support the mission →