To the Rescue

摘要

Sligo Airport, located on a scenic peninsula on the west coast of Ireland, is one of four search and rescue (SAR) bases operated for the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) by CHC Ireland. The Sikorsky S-92A helicopter based there conducts SAR duties to 15° west, some 250 nautical miles (463km) out into the Atlantic Ocean off the Irish coast, south to Slyne Head in Galway and east to Rathlin Island in the Irish Sea. Inland, it covers the northern and western counties of the Republic of Ireland and all of Northern Ireland apart from the Mourne Mountains, which are covered by the S-92A based at Dublin. The duties in and around the six Northern Irish counties are shared with Royal Navy Westland Sea Kings based at HMS Gannet at Prestwick in Scotland. The IRCG has provided SAR cover for Northern Ireland since the disbandment of the RAF's No.72 Squadron and its Westland Wessexes, based at RAF Aldergrove, in 2002.