The UK Royal Air Force has reacted angrily to a BBC television report that claims that the age of its Westland Sea King HAR3/3A search and rescue helicopters is threatening operations and potentially placing lives at risk.
The dispute erupted ahead of an Inside Out local news programme report to be screened in the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire regions on 7 November, which will reveal that both Sea King SAR aircraft based at Leconfield, Yorkshire, were unserviceable at the same time for a combined total of 300h in the first nine months of this year. The programme will also call into question the suitability of continuing operations with aircraft which have passed their originally planned service lives of 10,000 flight hours, quoting the concerns of a retired SAR pilot.
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Sources within the RAF SAR community say the service's six HAR3As have provided a "first standby aircraft" availability rate of 98.8% so far this year, with its 19 older HAR3s having delivered an average of 95.8%, against a combined targeted rate of 98%. The RAF provides SAR services from six locations around the UK using two Sea Kings at each site, with one aircraft held at 15min readiness, and the second to be available within 60min.
"Availability for Sea King helicopters is very good, and we have never failed to respond to a search and rescue helicopter call-out," it says. The UK Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at RAF Kinloss in Scotland has covered for any temporary shortfall by using adjacent units, it adds.
Although some of the RAF's older HAR3s, which entered service in 1978, have now flown over 10,000h, sources say modernisation and support procedures have extended the type's useful life substantially further, and note that some Sea Kings in the global fleet have amassed over 30,000 flight hours. Operations of the HAR3A started in 1996.
The RAF expects to introduce a new fleet of search-and-rescue helicopters from 2013, with the Ministry of Defence staging a replacement contest in co-operation with the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, with Sea King operations to cease in 2017. The MoD is expected to within the next year narrow the SAR-H competition to two bidders, with the new fleet to be used for up to 30 years. The project will also provide replacements for UK Royal Navy Sea King 5s, which are used to equip SAR flights at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall and Prestwick in Scotland.
The UK SAR community is so far experienced its busiest year of operations since 2001, with surge activities having included the RAF's provision of seven Sea King HAR3/3As to support flood relief efforts around Gloucester during July, while continuing to meet its day-to-day commitments.
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Source: FlightGlobal.com