Royal Navy's SAR unit at HMS Gannet remains UK's busiest for fourth year in a row

Official government statistics have revealed that the Royal Navy’s helicopter search and rescue crews at HMS Gannet in Prestwick, Ayrshire remain the UK’s busiest.

In 2010, the newly published Defence Analytical Services Agency results show that HMS Gannet responded to 379 call outs – more than one a day – recovering 324 people throughout a large area of south, west and central Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. This equates to a full 19 percent of all UK military SAR calls – there are eight military SAR bases, two of which are Royal Navy and the remainder are RAF.

The figures show a drop of 68 call outs on 2009’s extremely busy 447, but are roughly in line with 2008’s total, which was 382.

Broken down, the figures revealed that 145 of the 379 missions were to medical rescues, while a further 80 were for medical transfers.

Due to the large area covered by HMS Gannet, the average distance for a single sortie was 53 miles and the average time duration was just over an hour and a half.

Although the figures reflect a slight downturn on 2009’s record-breaking year, the substantial numbers mean that the team remains the busiest in the country for the fourth year in succession.

“Once again these high figures reflect the nature of the vast and sometimes harsh area covered by this unit,” said HMS Gannet’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Debdash Bhattacharya. “Our area of operations encompasses both Scotland and England’s highest peaks, Northern Ireland and the Inner Hebridean islands as well as the sea areas, which can be some of the UK’s most treacherous stretches of water.

“And all this can be subjected to extremely challenging weather conditions – even in the summer.

“I am incredibly proud of the men and women who make up not only our aircrew, but also the ground staff – military and civilian – who tirelessly work to that we are ready to fly at a moment’s notice in order to save lives.

“All my staff work at a sustained and challenging tempo and their efforts resulted in more than 320 people being carried to safety last year – whether that be a medical transfer from a remote island community, an emergency lift from the scene of a road traffic crash, a climber plucked from a treacherous mountain slope or a sailor pulled from raging seas.”

Source: Fleet Air Arm / Royal Navy