PRESTWICK SEARCH AND RESCUE HELICOPTER SERVICE LAUNCH MARKED IN CEREMONY


- Prestwick search and rescue helicopter base set to go live in January -

 The launch of the Prestwick civilian UK search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service was marked today (Thursday 17 December 2015) in a ceremony held at the new Coastguard SAR base at Prestwick Airport.

 Bristow Helicopters Ltd is operating the search and rescue helicopter service for the UK on behalf of HM Coastguard. The UK limited company was awarded the ten-year UK SAR contract by the Department for Transport in March 2013, representing a £1.9bn investment by the UK Government in the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service. By 2017 the service will be delivered from ten bases in all, strategically located close to areas of high SAR incident rates.

 The Prestwick base will begin SAR operations when crews begin receiving taskings from the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) in January 2016.

 Bristow crews are delivering the UK SAR helicopter service on behalf of HM Coastguard with state-of-the-art helicopters, equipped with the latest search and rescue technology including night vision, mission management and increased onboard medical capabilities.

 The base was officially opened by Robert Goodwill MP, UK Transport Minister. Also in attendance were representatives from HMS Gannet  and other search and rescue organisations, and invited guests with whom Bristow and HM Coastguard have been working closely to prepare the new service.

 UK Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said: “The new Prestwick Search and Rescue base will provide a vital emergency rescue service at sea, in coastal areas and inland throughout Scotland and the UK. The brand new state-of-the-art helicopters flying from here will be on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to reach those in need. Our investment has provided helicopters that can fly further and faster than the previous service and shows our commitment to helping keep Scotland safe.”

 Sir Alan Massey Maritime and Coastguard Agency Chief Executive said: “I am hugely proud that HM Coastguard has been entrusted with the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service. For us the launch of the Prestwick helicopter base is an extension of the high-quality service that we have been providing in other parts of the UK for the last 30 years.

“HMS Gannet SAR Flight has set the bar incredibly high, and I would like to thank them for their service and recognise the outstanding work they have done both at sea and inland over many decades. We will take their legacy forward with the utmost pride and care.”

 Samantha Willenbacher, Director of UK Search and Rescue at Bristow Helicopters Ltd, said: “This is an exciting day for us as we officially mark the launch of the Prestwick base. Prestwick is the fourth search and rescue helicopter base in Scotland, in addition to the newly launched base at Inverness and our bases at Stornoway and Sumburgh, which we have operated on behalf of HM Coastguard for many years.

 “It is an honour to have been chosen by the UK Government to deliver this vital service and I am extremely proud of all of my colleagues who have worked tirelessly to help us reach this point. I would like to recognise the incredible work carried out by HMS Gannet SAR flight and to thank them and the team at Prestwick Airport and the emergency services for their support. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to the local community for welcoming us and for their patience leading up to this milestone.”

 Bristow’s aircraft and crews have been at the Prestwick base throughout the autumn making preparations for the service going live and conducting a raft of training exercises with local search and rescue partners. 

 The base is led by Chief Pilot, Captain Craig Sweeney, a former Sea King Senior Pilot with the Royal Navy’s HMS Gannet Search and Rescue Flight. After more than a decade of service with the Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force, Capt Sweeney moved to Ayrshire to take up his posting in HMS Gannet in 2009 where he served until he joined Bristow in April 2013.  During his military service he was presented with the Air Force Cross by Prince Charles in recognition of his “exceptional levels of leadership, grit and composure” during the rescue of a climber on Beinn Sgulaird, in Argyll, in December 2011.

 Captain Sweeney said: “The whole team here at Prestwick feels very privileged to be involved in delivering this vital public service. It is a particular honour for me personally to provide this service to my local community - Prestwick is very much home for me and my family. We are very fortunate to have the S92 which is an excellent aircraft with a strong track record of successful SAR operations across the UK.”

 Richard Jenner, Chief Executive Officer at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, said:  “We’ve been working in partnership with Bristow for two years to bring HM Coastguard Helicopter Search and Rescue to Glasgow Prestwick Airport. It is great to see this facility up and running and ready to go operational from January 2016.  It is an excellent asset for the airport and Scotland. 

 “We hope that the significant investment made by Bristow to base its operations here demonstrates the value that they ascribe to working in partnership with an experienced aviation base – we’ve hosted search and rescue at the airport for more than 40 years.
“We look forward to using our knowledge and experience to further develop our working relationship with Bristow. We will do everything we can to support them in their delivery of this vital emergency response service.”

 Ends

 For further information please contact the Bristow Helicopters Communication team on 01224 806 602 or via bristow@webershandwick.com

 Notes to Editors:

 Footage of the search and rescue helicopter in action, shot by the BBC in the Inverness area is available on a pooled basis from the BBC News Organiser in Glasgow. Please call 0141 4227904.

 About HM Coastguard 

 The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is a frontline delivery and emergency response organisation which is an agency of the Department for Transport. Part of the MCA is HM Coastguard, which provides a UK-wide maritime emergency prevention and response capability which responds to calls for help by radio, satellite or the 999 service and co-ordinates maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK SAR region. The agency helps approximately 25,000 people each year with 21,000 incidents coordinated by its rescue centres.

 About Bristow Helicopters Ltd

 Bristow Helicopters Ltd is the provider of helicopter search and rescue (SAR) services in the UK, on behalf of Her Majesty's Coastguard, having been awarded the UK SAR contract and the Gap SAR contract for Northern Scotland. Bristow Helicopters has a long history of providing world class SAR services in the UK, beginning in 1971 and has flown more than 44,000 SAR operational hours in the UK and conducted over 15,000 SAR missions, during which more than 7,000 people have been rescued by our crews and helicopters. For more information on Bristow’s SAR operations, please visit www.bristowsar.com.

 Bristow Helicopters Ltd. has served the offshore oil transport industry in the UK for nearly 60 years. Bristow Helicopters Ltd. is an affiliated company of Bristow Group Inc. 

 About Bristow Group 

 Bristow Group Inc. is the leading provider of helicopter services to the worldwide offshore energy industry based on the number of aircraft operated and one of two helicopter service providers to the offshore energy industry with global operations. The company has major transportation operations in the North Sea, Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and in most of the other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Trinidad. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.bristowgroup.com.

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