User:Edinburgh838/Stornoway Coastguard Helicopter

The Stornoway HM Coastguard Search & Rescue flight is based in the Gaydon Hanger at Stornoway Airport, Isle of Lewis, United Kingdom.

History
The Stornoway Coastguard Search & Rescue Flight commenced operations in May 1987. Prior to this the northern West Coast of Scotland relied on search & rescue helicopters from either RNAS Prestwick or RAF Lossiemouth. Due to the distances involved and the isolated nature of some of the communities the response time of these helicopters was slow and could be further increased by bad weather.

Following a series of tragic incidents, including the fishing vessel Bon-Ami which ran aground on the 20th December 1985 on the approaches to Kinlochbervie where the stranded crew of 6 perished and the French trawler Snekkar Arctic which sank 350 miles west of Lewis on Saturday 22 February 1986 with the loss of 18 lives, a campaign for the provision of a dedicated search and rescue helicopter on the West Coast of Scotland was launched.

The campaign was supported by local communities, dignitaries along with the fishing industry and the government agreed for a Sikorsky S-61N helicopter to be introduced by Bristow Helicopters under contract to the HM Coastguard to provide search & rescue cover for the north west coast of Scotland.

Bristow successfully rebid the five year contract until July 2007 when it was won by CHC Scotia Helicopters.

CHC brought in the Sikorsky S-92A helicopter to Search & Rescue which replaced the aging S-61N and introduced new technology to SAR operations such as EGPWS, TCAS, FMS and more.

The improved capability of the S-92A helicopter led to an increase in the number of missions performed and in December 2010 the flight passed the 200 missions in a year milestone eventually completing 206.

Operation
The flight is based at Stornoway Airport on the Isle of Lewis and operates 24 hours a day all year round. It's area of operations is generally from the Kyle of Tongue on the north coast of Scotland to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula on the west coast. Although once on a misson the aircraft may take casualities as far afield as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

There are two S-92A helicopters on site. A duty aircraft and a standby aircraft. The duty aircraft's callsign for training is 'Coastguard' 100(one-zero-zero) but this will change to 'Rescue' 100 if the aircraft is tasked to perform Search & Rescue operations.

The aircraft can be scrambled by either the Stornoway Coastguard MRCC or Kinloss ARCC.

The helicopter carries a crew of four: - two pilots, one winch operator and one winchman/paramedic.

The Stornoway S-61N SAR Helicopter
The S-61N helicopter was, at the time, the work horse of the North Sea oil industry. It had a proven track record and had seen several developments over the years since it first came off the production line. It was the obvious choice as a SAR helicopter since it was the civilian variant of the military Sea King helicopter already in search & rescue use in the UK.

The first S-61N introduced to Stornoway was a basic fit aircraft with a single hoist in the colour scheme of Bristow Helicopters. Later an S-61N in a Coastguard colour was introduced with full auto pilot and ASE system, the LN400. The aircraft was further developed and was the first SAR aircraft in UK to be fitted with a FLIR camera system and dual hoist. In the 90's an electronic HSI was fitted to the cockpit.

In 2003 Bristow Helicopters received the Queen's Award for Enterprise, in the Innovation category, in recognition of its continuous development of Search and Rescue helicopters since 1971.

The last day of operations for the Stornoway S-61N was on the ................ it is currently still flying Search & Rescue but now for the Dutch Coastguard at De Kooy airport in Den Helder.

The Stornoway S-92A SAR Helicopter
The S92A is the most modern SAR aircraft operating in the UK. It has significant advantages over the previous S61 helicopter in that it is more powerful, faster and is better equipped.

The most significant improvements the S92 offers is a full de-icing capability, a greater airpeed, a ramp and an improved navigation fit.

Awards
5th March 2001

For the rescue of 9 crewmen from the fishing vessel Hansa

Queen’s Gallantry Medal - Winchman Chris Murray

Commendation for Bravery in the Air - Pilot Clark Broad, Co-Pilot Neill Stephenson and Winch Operator Julian “Smiler” Grinney

25th November 2002

For the rescue of a crewman from fishing vessel Nuska 287 miles north-west of Stornoway

Chief Coastguard’s Commendation - Capt John Bentley, Co-pilot Ben Clarke, Winch Operator Julian “Smiler” Grinney, Winchman Colin Hunter and Dr Brian Michie.

1st February 1 2008

Fishing vessel Spinningdale, run aground at St Kilda with 14 persons rescued

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Winged S Rescue Award - Capt Elizabeth Forsyth, Co-pilot Micheal Mellie, Winch Operator Larry Slater and Winchman Phil Warrington.

Billy Deacon Search and Rescue Memorial Trophy 2009 - Winchman Phil Warrington.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. Winged S Rescue Award - Stornoway Coastguard SAR Flight.