MCA WELCOME NEW AGUSTAWESTLAND 139 HELICOPTERS TO SEARCH AND RESCUE FLEET

The first of three brand-new AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters, configured entirely for search and rescue (SAR), were welcomed at the MCAs new state-of-the-art hangar at the Lee-On-The-Solent airfield in late March 2008. The helicopters will be used primarily here on the south coast.

These helicopters are being provided under a service contract to the MCA by CHC Helicopters who won the interim contract to supply the service to the MCA from 2007 to 2012.

The interim contract provides for commercial search and rescue helicopter services from four civilian-operated bases - Sumburgh, Stornoway, Lee-on-the-Solent and Portland - for a five-year period from July 1, 2007.

The service will provide 24-hour coverage at Sumburgh, Stornoway and Lee-on-Solent, and will operate on a 12 hour day-time basis at Portland, in line with current cover.

Two AW139s will be based at Lee on the Solent and one at Portland.

These new aircraft will be able to fly more quickly, and will be able to fly farther to people in distress at sea.

They have been specifically kitted with various items of advanced technical equipment, including an on board automatic identification system (AIS), specifically designed for the challenges of search and rescue in the 21st Century .

The AW139s are in use on a variety of commercial duties around the world, proving their operational effectiveness and reliability.

The aircraft are also being considered for use in a search and rescue role in Spain, with UAE, Australia, Italian and Japanese authorities also intending to use these aircraft for SAR purposes.

The introduction of the AW139s represents the latest key phase in our work with the MCA to introduce new technology to civilian helicopter search and rescue work in the UK and provide an effective, efficient service that reflects modern-day needs.

Role Equipment fitted to both Aircraft types

• WINCH – Goodrich dual hoist
• SATCOM - SkyTrac ISAT-100 system fitted to all aircraft - which provides SatPhone voice communications, with an additional two-way text messaging facility - and complete position reporting through the automatic flight following functionality.
• SEARCHLIGHT - Spectrolab SX-16 Nightsun
• FLIR - Wescam MX-15i on each of the proposed Airborne Systems
• RADAR - Honeywell Primus 701 full colour weather/search radar
• HOMER - Chelton 935-11 Direction Finder
• AIS - Saab R4A SAR AIS transponder.

o 3 x AW139
o 2 at Lee on Solent, 1 at Portland
o increase in Radius of Action
o increase in speed (150kts)
o 40% increase in winch speed
o Secondary winch identical to primary winch
o Excellent single engine performance
o Extensive safe operating envelope
o Fully integrated systems and glass cockpit
o Enhanced mission management system with moving map and satcom
o Excellent visual search platform
o Good accessibility – 2 large doors and low sill height
o New technology with anticipated reliability benefits
o Fully duplex autopilot; all aircraft configured the same
o Size, speed and economy benefits suited to south coast SAR operations
o The maximum endurance of the AW139 is 2 hrs 43 minutes at the best cruise speed and 3 hrs 20 minutes at the speed for best endurance. These figures are based on VFR reserves (20 minutes at cruise speed) and maximum auxiliary fuel

The old Coastguard Helicopter which used to be operational in the Solent area, was a SIKORSKY S61N and became a star on the BBC one program Sea Side Rescue.

The details of this helicopter can be found by clicking on the above image.