New coastguard helicopter crews undergo training 2/2/13
Air crews for the new Stornoway Coastguard rescue helicopter are undergoing three
months of training before a stop-gap four year contract starts this summer.
Bristow Helicopters are taking over the operation of search and rescue services in
the north of Scotland until 2017.
New crews will officially start in Stornoway on 1 July using Sikorsky S-92 helicopters.
The Shetland contract begins a month earlier.
Next week, air crews will begin three months of familiarisation training at Inverness
airport, a central point between the two island bases.
The interim contract was required because the initial tender process was abandoned
by the Coalition government amid accusations of irregularities. Police launched a
probe into how a consortium bidder got hold of commercially sensitive information.
The present contract holder, Canadian group CHC Helicopters, has been ditched from
a rerun procurement programme after the other bidders undercut them by 20% cheaper
in the first round thus disqualifying it from proceeding to the next stage.
Aberdeen-based Bond Helicopters and American-owned Bristows are now the two runners
to take over the UK's helicopter search network in 2017.
Bristows previously operated helicopters on behalf of the coastguards at the two
island bases.
Under existing arrangements, UK search and rescue is provided jointly by the Ministry
of Defence (MoD) - operating a fleet of Sea King helicopters from eight military
bases, with a further four civilian bases operated under contract to the Maritime
and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Future arrangements will see the end of military involvement in a dedicated helicopter
search and rescue service.
The government says this will allow the armed forces to focus their activity on front-line
operations when the fleet of Sea Kings is retired by March 2016.