Post by lbw1 on Mar 26, 2013 8:30:03 GMT
Bristow Group to take over UK search and rescue
Bristow has been awarded a contract to operate helicopters in Shetland and the Western Isles Continue reading the main story
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A US-based company will take over the UK's helicopter search and rescue operations, the Department for Transport has announced.
The Bristow Group, which is based in Texas, has won a 10-year contract to provide the service from 2015.
The £1.6bn deal ends 70 years of search and rescue from the RAF and Royal Navy.
Bristow will replace ageing RAF and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters with modern Sikorsky S-92s and AgustaWestland 189s.
Under the new contract, 22 helicopters will operate from 10 locations around the UK.
Ten S-92s will be based, two per site, at Stornoway and Sumburgh, and at new bases at Newquay, Caernarfon and Humberside airports.
Ten AW189s will operate, two per site, from Lee-on-Solent and a new hangar at Prestwick airport, and new bases which will be established at St Athan, Inverness and Manston airports.
All bases will be operational 24 hours a day, and half of the new fleet will be built in Yeovil, Somerset.
Bristow has already been preparing crews for coastguard duties at Sumburgh in Shetland and Stornoway in the Western Isles.
The other current search and rescue (SAR) bases are Culdrose, Wattisham, Valley, Boulmer, Portland, Lee-on-Solent, Chivenor, Leconfield, Lossiemouth and Prestwick.
There will continue to be an RAF base at Valley, Anglesey, however the SAR unit will be in Caernarfon.
Bristow has been awarded a contract to operate helicopters in Shetland and the Western Isles Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
'Latest technology' for helicopters
Crews to train for rescue role
Firms to bid for rescue contracts
A US-based company will take over the UK's helicopter search and rescue operations, the Department for Transport has announced.
The Bristow Group, which is based in Texas, has won a 10-year contract to provide the service from 2015.
The £1.6bn deal ends 70 years of search and rescue from the RAF and Royal Navy.
Bristow will replace ageing RAF and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters with modern Sikorsky S-92s and AgustaWestland 189s.
Under the new contract, 22 helicopters will operate from 10 locations around the UK.
Ten S-92s will be based, two per site, at Stornoway and Sumburgh, and at new bases at Newquay, Caernarfon and Humberside airports.
Ten AW189s will operate, two per site, from Lee-on-Solent and a new hangar at Prestwick airport, and new bases which will be established at St Athan, Inverness and Manston airports.
All bases will be operational 24 hours a day, and half of the new fleet will be built in Yeovil, Somerset.
Bristow has already been preparing crews for coastguard duties at Sumburgh in Shetland and Stornoway in the Western Isles.
The other current search and rescue (SAR) bases are Culdrose, Wattisham, Valley, Boulmer, Portland, Lee-on-Solent, Chivenor, Leconfield, Lossiemouth and Prestwick.
There will continue to be an RAF base at Valley, Anglesey, however the SAR unit will be in Caernarfon.