A system error on the new rescue helicopters could in practice lead to Norway being completely without a helicopter emergency service, says Jon Halvorsen, director of the Norwegian Central Rescue Service (HRS). He has written a letter to the Ministry of Justice and asked them to slow down the introduction of the new helicopter. For the sake of preparedness, the civil operators with another type of helicopter should be allowed to continue, he believes. The main rescue center has two concerns in particular: There is a big risk in having only one type of helicopter for search and rescue. If a technical fault is discovered which means that the type of helicopter has to be put on the ground, it will affect the entire rescue service. The new SAR Queen is very heavy and has problems operating in high mountain areas, where the air is thin. The old Sea King helicopters weighed around 6 tonnes, while the successor SAR Queen weighs around 10 tonnes. Fully equipped and manned for rescue operations, it will be around 16 tonnes, according to HRS. Photo: Ksenia Novikova Switching to new helicopters The reason for the concern is that the Norwegian Armed Forces are in the process of replacing their rescue helicopters. Out go the 50-year-old Sea King machines. In comes SAR Queen. (It is called that among politicians and the general public. Professionals use the actual name, AW 101.) At the same time, the Norwegian Armed Forces will take over rescue preparedness in several places where civilians are responsible today. This applies to Florø from October next year and Tromsø from 2028. But now the main rescue center is sounding the alarm. They believe the switch has major consequences that have not received much attention. Must have more to play with The rescue service should have more types of helicopters to play with, says Jon Halvorsen in HRS. The most important reason is preparedness in the event of technical errors. – The risk arises if you have some kind of technical failure which means that all the helicopters have to stand on the ground until you find out what the problem is. If you then only have AW 101 in the whole of Norway, then we will effectively be without a rescue helicopter service, says Halvorsen. Jon Halvorsen, director of the Central Rescue Service, wants several types of helicopters available for safety. Photo: Hovedredingsentralen Such incidents have actually occurred from time to time. By February at the latest, cracks were discovered, and all the AW 101 machines were grounded. At the time, it only took a few hours to check out all the helicopters. It is not certain that it will go as smoothly next time: – The probability of this happening is not very high, but the consequences are so great that it must be taken into account in the assessment, says Halvorsen. He wants to lower the risk by keeping several types of helicopters on standby. In the letter to the Ministry of Justice, he requests that the civilian operator CHC Helikopter Service – which has a different type of helicopter – be allowed to keep the mission in Florø. Actually, it ends in October next year. Poor lifting capacity at height When the first AW101 was put into service three years ago, the Norwegian Armed Forces wrote on its website that it would provide greater security “in remote areas all over the country”. The new can fly both faster and longer, and copes with storms better, said the review. But one thing was not mentioned: the possibility of operating high up in the mountains, where the air is thin. The main rescue center has experienced several times that the AW101 has problems solving missions high in the mountains. – Originally, our impression was that this helicopter should be significantly better than the old Sea King helicopter in terms of altitude. We have become more and more aware that it has weaknesses, says Halvorsen. – Based on our best knowledge, this helicopter has challenges in operating at altitude, especially when there is little wind and when there are high temperatures. And that makes us vulnerable in alpine mountain rescue. In the letter to the ministry, HRS compares the lifting capacity of two types of helicopter: the AW101 cannot lift a single person on Galdhøpiggen when it is above 0 degrees in the air. Under the same conditions, a Super Puma, of the type that is on standby in Florø, can lift up to eight people. This is based on HRS’ calculations – “subject to some inaccuracy”, as they write. In a rescue operation at Snøhetta in September, it was the air ambulance that brought down a tourist who needed help. Photo: NTB Halvorsen is aware that work is being done to give the AW 101 more lifting power, but from what he knows, it will take another couple of years before it is ready for testing. This is bad news when the Norwegian Armed Forces’ 330 squadron is to take over the service in Florø. They will be the closest base to the country’s highest mountain areas in Jotunheimen. It is already known that the weight of the SAR Queen creates another problem: the machine cannot use the landing sites at a number of hospitals, as news has mentioned. Wanted to keep it secret The report of concern from HRS is also being tried to be kept secret by the Ministry of Justice, which refuses news access. They claim it has been collected from a subordinate body and can thus be exempted from public disclosure. According to Jon Halvorsen, it was not brought in by the ministry, but on the contrary sent from HRS on their own initiative. The Norwegian Defense Force’s 330 Squadron refers the Ministry of Justice for comment on the matter. news contacted the ministry on Thursday, but they have not responded to the inquiry. Photo: SIMON SKJELVIK BRANDSETH / news
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The new rescue helicopter has problems high up in the mountains – The main rescue center is concerned – news Troms and Finnmark
