Goodbye Oscar Charlie…hello Golf Bravo
SHETLAND’S new coastguard search and rescue helicopter flew its first mission on Monday morning airlifting an injured crewman from a Fraserburgh fishing boat to Lerwick’s Clickimin landing site.
The brand new Sikorsky S-92 was scrambled at 11.25am to fly 60 miles south east of Sumburgh to collect the crewman who had been struck by a trawl wire while working on board the 24 metre white fish boat Lynden.
The flight was the first undertaken since US-owned Bristow Helicopters recaptured the coastguard contract from Canadian CHC Helicopters last year.
Currently three aircraft are stationed at Sumburgh airport, but one of these will leave for Stornoway when Bristow takes over operations there on 1 July.
The departure of CHC also brings the loss of the familiar Oscar Charlie call sign by which Shetland coastguard’s main chopper was affectionately known for decades, flying alongside its fellow Romeo Charlie.
The two new call signs are Golf Bravo and Golf Charlie, with Golf Bravo being tasked on Monday morning for the first flight. The same aircraft had been in action the previous day though, at the Aith lifeboat gala.
Bristow ran the service from Sumburgh from 1983 until 2007, and their return marks the start of the UK Gap SAR search and rescue contract.
Bristow Helicopters have also been awarded the £1.6bn UK SAR contract which will start in Sumburgh in 2017. Bristow will deliver the contract for ten years until 2026, operating out of 10 sites across Britain.
The new choppers are equipped with the latest technology, including night vision goggles, forward-looking infrared and sophisticated communications equipment.
Bristow managing director Mike Imlach said it was an honour to be back at Sumburgh and he forecast a smooth transition to the new service.
“Several of our crew members have been delivering search and rescue helicopter services in the north of Scotland for many years and will continue to do so with Bristow,” he said
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