Hans J Marter

1 October 2007

SHETLANDERS today (Monday) will bid a fond farewell to Oscar Charlie, the Sikorsky 61N helicopter that has been the isles’ search and rescue aircraft for the last 24 years.

Oscar Charlie’s last departure from Sumburgh Airport mark the transfer of the Coastguard’s search and rescue contract from Bristow to CHC Scotia, as well as the arrival of a brand new helicopter, the Sikorsky 92.

While the crews at the Sumburgh station expect delivery of their new state of the art helicopter later this year, the Stornoway based helicopter Hotel Lima fills in the gap as of today.

On Saturday, Oscar Charlie flew her last mission when an injured fishermen was airlifted from a fishing vessel southeast of Sumburgh and taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital, in Lerwick.

Yesterday (Sunday), the crew at Sumburgh said it was a “sad moment” to see Oscar Charlie go as the helicopter had had a long association with the people of Shetland and stood in high regard.

But they added that it was right to bring in a new generation of technology, and initial reservations regarding whether it was a wise move to introduce a brand new and largely untested helicopter straight into search and rescue had been overcome.

Chief pilot Paul Bentley said the Sikorsky 61 had done its duties and it was time to move on: “New technology is available, it is faster and it is more capable, and I think it is a step in the right direction.

“We were obviously very sceptical when we heard of a new aircraft going straight into SAR service. But it has proven to be quite a capable aircraft across at Stornoway, where the first of the new aircraft have been introduced. We are confident that it will provide a better service ultimately.”

Since 1983, Oscar Charlie has been involved numerous rescues in the waters of the northern isles. During her almost 24 years of duty the helicopter was instrumental in rescuing over 2,000 people during more than 1,800 call outs.

One who has been flying with Oscar Charlie from day one is senior winch operator Kieran Murray. He said Oscar Charlie had been involved in some of the most daring rescue operations imaginable.

“I think one of the most exciting rescue weeks I was involved with was the fish factory vessel Lunokhod-1, which went aground in 1993 on the Bressay Light. On that occasion we lifted 56 people in total.

“Then seven days later, another klondyker went around, the Brodoinskoye Polye, this time to the north of Lerwick. We lifted 36 from that vessel, and then, the next day, eleven from a burning fishing boat. That was almost 100 people in the space of a week.

“Another memory of us working in the community is Christmas 1995. Generally, Christmas days can be a very quiet duty. On this occasion because of the amount of snow that had fallen, we were asked to bring the old and the very young into Lerwick to the hospital so that they would not suffer from hyperthermia, because the ambulance couldn’t get through snow drifts.

“We started flying at about 10am on Christmas morning and 12 hours later, at 10pm at night, we sat down for our Christmas turkey – and we thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said.

He added that people in the street had expressed to him how sad they were to see the old helicopter go. However, the good news was that the Sikorsky 92 would also be referred to as Oscar Charlie.

And, from a personal point of view, there is more good news for Mr Murray. He said: “It will be a sad to see her leaving for the last time, as we have spend so much time on Oscar Charlie.

“But behind the sadness is joy, because in a couple of months time my son who is a helicopter pilot will come and join us on the 92, so it will be father and son doing search and rescue.”