The HM Coastguard search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter service in Sumburgh, Scotland, operated by Bristow Helicopters Ltd, has passed the 500 missions milestone, since Bristow took responsibility for the lifesaving service in July 2013.
Bristow, which has a 45-year history of delivering SAR services in the U.K., took over running the service on behalf of HM Coastguard at Sumburgh, on the Shetland Islands, in 2013. Bristow had originally operated the service out of Sumburgh from 1983 until 2007, when the service briefly switched to another operator.
Since the base went live in 1983, over 3,000 missions have been completed.
Chief pilot in Sumburgh, Capt Stuart Cunliffe joined the RAF at age 16 and started his military career as a survival equipment fitter. From there he became a crewman and went on to fly operationally in Kosovo, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Mozambique, before being commissioned as a pilot in 2002.
During his time as a pilot in the RAF he was posted to various SAR locations in the U.K., and also served as a senior air advisor in Afghanistan before taking up his final military role as chief pilot at RMB Chivenor in Devon.
Cunliffe joined Bristow’s civilian SAR crew after SAR helicopter operations at RMB Chivenor ceased.
“After delivering SAR operations around the world, I’m delighted to be back in the U.K. and delivering the service out of Sumburgh and around the Shetland Islands,” said Cunliffe. “I work with extremely talented and knowledgeable crews who have all played their part in saving a significant number of lives in the 500 or so missions that we’ve been part of over the last three years, while some have been here much longer.
“We recently noted that the base has been tasked out just over 3,000 times since it first went live in 1983, which is an incredible number. To have crew members who have been here since then shows the depth of experience available at the base. We look forward to continuing this great service and are very much looking forward to transitioning to the full U.K. SAR civilian service next year.”
In 2013, Bristow won the U.K. Government national contract to deliver SAR operations on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Seven of 10 strategically located bases have taken over the helicopter SAR responsibility from the military in a phased approach throughout 2015 and 2016. The remaining three, including the existing GAP SAR Coastguard bases in Sumburgh and Stornoway, are set to become part of the new contract in 2017.
