Culdrose will get new search-and-rescue helicopters

Historical Post

The Ministry of Defence has announced that the replacement search and rescue service at RNAS Culdrose will have “new helicopters built to modern standards” when it takes over in 2012.?? Local MP Andrew George has been informed by Defence Minister Quentin Davies MP today that the two remaining bidders to provide the service will be able to operate with “faster transit times to incidents” and that Culdrose will continue to operate a 24-hour-a-day service as at present.?? Mr George has been campaigning for the restoration of the search and rescue service at Culdrose since plans for a private finance initiative were first mooted in late 2004. Having secured the agreement of Ministers that Culdrose would be one of the 12 UK wide bases for the search and rescue service Mr George has continued to seek reassurances regarding the operation and its resilience.??“This is further good news,” said Andrew George. “However, I hope that both Defence and Transport ministers will retain the medical and casualty evacuation functions of the present service – especially at night when the air ambulance does not operate – and make clear how it will relate to the naval base pilots and staff who would still benefit from search and rescue experience as well as the training and simulation exercises undertaken at the base.”