Sligo Councillor hopes latest anomalies surrounding Coast Guard rescue helicopter service will be ironed out prior to December

The Irish independent are reporting that that the new Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopter operator has been banned from transporting patients on stretchers in their newly leased aircraft as they are not compliant with safety regulations. Air crews have been told that casualties can only be carried if they are placed sitting up and secured in one of the passenger seats on the new AW189 helicopter flown by Bristow Ireland. These new helicopters are replacing the Sikorsky S-92s used by CHC Ireland, the previous operator of the coast guard’s air search and rescue contract. As a result of the decision by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA new stretchers will have to be acquired and certified for the helicopters.   The directive was issued to Bristow Ireland (BIL) from the IAA, and affects flights in the new AW189 helicopter. Bristow Ireland has four AW189s currently based in Ireland as it undertakes a transition from outgoing operator CHC Ireland at the four Irish Coast Guard helicopter bases — Shannon, Dublin, Sligo and Waterford. The new helicopter currently only operates out of Shannon, but will be phased in at other bases over the next 10 months.   Bristow Ireland was awarded the new 10-year €800m aviation contract for the Irish Coast Guard to provide 24-hour search-and-rescue cover from four helicopter bases in August 2023. Bristow was scheduled to move into the second of four bases at Sligo on February 14thHowever, under a new agreement drawn up with CHC Ireland and the Department of Transport/Irish Coast Guard, the sequence has been changed, to December 16