Last Tuesday saw the announcement at Westminster that the privately financed Soteria consortium would run the “joint search and rescue helicopter project”.

Starting in 2012, Soteria will oversee the UK’s mountain rescue and coastguard services in a 25-year contract worth more than £6 billion. There will be a 70 per cent reduction in the number of military aircrew involved in search and rescue (SAR), with civilians being trained to meet the shortfall.

Much of the initial reaction, in Scotland at least, focused on the potential for job losses. Soteria intends to stop using HMS Gannet at Prestwick as their base in that area, switching instead to Glasgow Airport.

Several Ayrshire MPs and MSPs spoke out, but less was heard about what those actively involved in search and resuce think about the changes.

The Caledonian Mercury contacted two very experienced Scottish SAR people, one from the military side of things, one a civilian volunteer, and asked for their views.

David “Heavy” Whalley is one of the most experienced rescuers in Scotland, having spent 38 years as part of various RAF rescue teams, including three years at the rescue coordination centre at RAF Kinloss. Now retired – but still a very active mountaineer and mountain-rescue consultant – he is the statistician for the Mountain Rescue Committee of Scotland and is working on his eighth round of Munros.

All of this gives him a considerable understanding of the complexities of SAR. “The contract has been set,” says Whalley, speaking in a personal capacity, “and I pray that they have looked at mountain rescue training with teams on a regular basis. This will ensure that those teams who are not used to the new aircraft become familiarised as soon as possible. Remember, the contracts are being set to make money for the companies, and they do that by cutting down on cost.”

David Dodson is the leader of the Lomond mountain rescue team, comprised of civilian volunteers and covering the area north of Glasgow. At present, his team usually, but not exclusively, works with navy helicopters flying out of HMS Gannet.

Dodson’s main concern is that the new arrangement will allow Soteria-controlled helicopters to operate identically to the current military-controlled ones. “They have always tried to reassure our concerns,” he says, “stating that we ought not to notice any difference in their support of mountain rescue activity. That said, with a commercial operation of SAR, issues such as access to helicopters for training purposes, and limit of flying hours, still have to be finalised.”

As for the switch of helicopter type, from the familiar Sea King to the Sikorsky S92, Dodson notes that the Sikorsky is bigger and heavier and is already being used by the coastguard in the north of Scotland.

“Feedback from some of the teams who have worked with them state that the greater downdraught of the S92 compared with the Sea King is significant. This could cause issues on steep icy slopes.”

Mountain rescue personnel working with the S92 have been advised to wear safety goggles and earplugs.

“The Sea King is desperately needing replaced,” says Whalley, who recalls earlier concerns about a switch of helicopter. “When the Sea King took over from the Wessex [in the early 1990s], there was lots of worry about the downdraft. Mountain rescue teams spent a long time getting used to the changes and adapting to the new aircraft, and in the end we got it right.”

Clearly, for all the done-and-dusted-sounding Westminster announcement, there is still much work to be done on the changeover.

“I would like confirmation that there will be no changes to how SAR aircraft help civilian mountain rescue teams,” says Dodson, “down to having no limits to the numbers of joint exercises for training purposes and no change to availability for callouts.”

As for the move from Prestwick to Glasgow, it could well end up helping the Lomond team. “I sympathise with the ramifications to groundcrew/aircrew and their families,” says Dodson. “But being entirely selfish, the change will increase response time and shorten the time for aircraft to leave the search area for refuelling etc.”

Overall, thus far, the announcement appears to have been greeted with a mix of concern and cautious pragmatism. “These are very interesting times,” says Whalley, “and it will take a lot of work by all parties to ensure that the service to the casualty does not suffer. The RAF, Royal Navy and coastguard helicopters have been magnificent over the years. Hopefully the new aircraft and crews will continue to provide an outstanding service.”

Source: caledonianmercury.com