British Search and Rescue

[henrycourt]

Does anyone out there know the answer to this one On 31.12.09 at around 0500 GMT the brand new yacht "Justice" foundered on Hook Sands off of Reculver in the Thames Estuary. Two persons on board. Margate All Weather Lifeboat attended together with a BELGIAN SAR HELICOPTER. Both persons rescued but yacht sank and subsequently washed up on the shore at Herne Bay. My question about all of this is where the hell is the BRITISH SAR HELICOPTER Is it still at RAF Wattisham or gone somewhere else As an aside the Coastguard spotter plane until very recently stationed at Manston Airport (overlooking the Channel) has been removed to Coventry Airport, how idiotic is that !!! You can't get much further from the sea if you tried. Are we as a country in such dire straits that we cannot provide a reliable Search and Rescue Service

[Guest]

Hi John

This is what the Guardian reported - courtesy of http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/31/yacht-pair-rescued-belgian-helicopter

"The Belgian helicopter was nearest at the time and rescued the owner of the boat and a crew member. The boat had capsized after a failed attempt to drag it to deeper water.

The helicopter was scrambled from a Belgian air force base at Koksijde by the central command station in Kinloss, Scotland, that finds and allocates the nearest available rescue helicopters."

As to the Coventry location - this what the Coventry Telegraph reported @ http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2009/12/22/coastguard-planning-coventry-base-92746-25448231/

"An MCA spokeswoman said the Midlands was ideal because the plane could also be used to cover the south coast and Irish Sea.

She added that new technology meant shipping lanes could be monitored by office-based computers instead of from the air.

[henrycourt]

Hi Steve, Many thanks for your, as ever, interesting reply.   By implication then we shall never see another British SAR Helicopter in this area again, I mean the vast area of the Thames Estuary and the upper part of the Channel separation scheme. I wonder what the cost of employing a Foreign Helicopter and crew is on an hourly basis.  It's going to be interesing to see what happen when an SAR 'copter is needed to search the backwaters of the outer Thames and Medway !!!  As far as the aeroplane is concerned the mind boggles as to the extra CARBON FOOTPRINT that will be produced flying from Coventry to the Channel and back !!!!  You say Steve that being professionals they know what they are doing, I would question that, when I moved to this area in 1972 there was a perfectly good SAR Service provided by Bristows Helicopters they were evicted and the RAF took over, eventually they moved to Wattisham.  you could stand in the  control tower and look out on the channel. one wonders why they moved out !!!!   Regards, john

[Guest]

Hi John

If you have the time - take a look through the 62 pages of this MCA document - 'SEARCH AND RESCUE FRAMEWORK FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND'. It dates from 2008 but does have details of what the plans are for SAR responsibly shared between the MCA, RAF, RN etc.

http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/uksar.pdf

Don't know if you watched the TV series that was on the box a while ago - Trawlers, Rigs & Rescue: North Sea but that showed the SAR co-operation between the Dutch and UL SAR services. Bristow Search & Rescue operating from Van Delder and covering the North Sea - link @ http://www.trawlersrigsandrescue.com/

Regards