Bristow Helicopters has officially unveiled the first of five new bases it is constructing as it begins the transition to managing search and rescue operations on behalf of the UK government.
The two initial sites – in Humberside and Inverness – will go live on 1 April, when they will take over from Royal Air Force Westland Sea King HAR3/3A crews located at bases in Leconfield and Lossiemouth respectively.
Speaking at an event to mark the opening of the Humberside airport facility on 26 February, Jonathan Baliff, chief executive of Bristow Group, said he was "excited but humble" about the challenge ahead. He paid tribute to the RAF and Royal Navy crews who have performed the role for the last 70 years, noting that Bristow "will be blessed" if it achieves those levels of service.
However, the £1.6 billion ($2.5 billion), 10-year contract still has several issues to resolve. Operations at Inverness will commence using Sikorsky S-92s, rather than AgustaWestland AW189s as originally intended, as a result of delays in certificating the SAR variant of the latter type.
Baliff describes AgustaWestland as "a very good partner" in how it is "working through the issues we have with them".
So far it has received two SAR-roled AW189s, although only one is presently being used for training.
Two further AW189 bases are due to come on stream later this year, but Baliff declines to comment on any future delivery schedule for the type.
Samantha Willenbacher, UK SAR director at Bristow, says its team is still completing operational evaluations of the AW189 and "once it is ready" it will be introduced at Inverness. However, she is unable to provide a timeline for that transition.
"We have a responsibility to provide a service from those bases," she says. "We are ready to go on 1 April; that's when we are contracted to provide services from."
Other bases may begin operating smaller AW139s when they go live later this year. So far, Bristow has revived two SAR-configured examples under long-standing contingency plans it has in place with the manufacturer.
Meanwhile, Willenbacher says an announcement will be made "shortly" regarding its plan for a base in the southeast of England. This has been is disarray since the closure last year of its preferred site at Manston airport. It has now secured a site which will begin "work-up" from 1 April and will go live as scheduled from 1 July.
For Bristow's crews at Humberside, however, the wait is nearly over. They have been conducting familiarisation and training from the facility since January and now have a pair of new S-92s (G-MCGE and G-MCGH) based there.
Chief pilot for Humberside SAR Liz Forsyth says she cannot wait to get started. "To be here within reach of going live is just amazing." Forsyth used to fly Sea Kings for the RAF, and says that while she "is fond" of the venerable helicopter, she "could never go back".
"It was great, but technology has moved on," she says.
Source: Flight International
