The
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
's Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) is based at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC), Fareham, Hampshire.
Structure
The centre is responsible for coordinating all
Maritime & Coastguard Agency
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine ...
Search and Rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
(SAR) helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. The civil ARCC has no authority to task RAF mountain rescue teams. It monitors rescue incidents in the
United Kingdom Search and Rescue Region (UK SRR), which extends to 30 degrees west in longitude, and from 45 to 61 degrees north latitude (as far north as just south of the Danish
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
), excluding the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
(
Ireland SRR).
Sikorsky S-92 helicopters can operate in excess of 250 miles from their base, with an endurance of over four hours.
AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters can operate in excess of 200 miles from their base, with an endurance of over four hours.
Beechcraft Super King Air B200 aircraft can operate in excess of 400 miles from their base at Doncaster, with an endurance of over five hours. For longer range SAR incidents the aircraft can rapidly deploy to other airfields.
Piper PA-31 Navajo Panther aircraft can operate in excess of 200 miles from their base in Doncaster, with an endurance of over four hours. Again, the aircraft can be forward deployed to other airfields around the UK.
Fareham has no helicopter squadrons, however it controls rescue helicopters and fixed wing aircraft based at:
Helicopters
*
Stornoway Airport on the
Isle of Lewis
The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...
in the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
*
Sumburgh Airport, south of
Lerwick
Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.
Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...
in the
Shetland Islands
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
*
Lee-on-Solent
Lee-on-the-Solent, often referred to as Lee-on-Solent, is a seaside district of the Borough of Gosport in Hampshire, England, about five miles (8 km) west of Portsmouth. The area is located on the coast of the Solent. It is primarily a res ...
, four miles west of
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
*
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, within
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest man-made harbour in the world, and rema ...
*
Humberside Airport
Humberside Airport is an international airport at Kirmington in the Borough of North Lincolnshire, England, from three large settlements: Grimsby (east), Hull (north) and Scunthorpe (west), on the A18, the latter two places reached by lon ...
*
Inverness Airport
Inverness Airport ( gd, Port-adhair Inbhir Nis) is an international airport situated at Dalcross, north-east of the city of Inverness, Scotland. It is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL). The airport is the main gateway ...
*
Caernarfon Airport
Caernarfon Airport ( cy, Maes Awyr Caernarfon) , formerly RAF Llandwrog, is located southwest of Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales.
Operations
Caernarfon Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P866) that allows flights for the public transpor ...
*
Lydd Airport
London Ashford Airport is east of the town of Lydd and south of Ashford in the district of Folkestone and Hythe, in Kent, England. Originally named Lydd Ferryfield, it is now also known as London Ashford Airport, despite being from Lond ...
*
St Athan
St Athan ( cy, Sain Tathan) is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated to t ...
*
Prestwick Airport
Glasgow Prestwick Airport () is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick in South Ayrshire and southwest of Glasgow. It is the less busy of the two airports serving the western part of ...
*
Newquay Airport
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, United Kingdom, located at Mawgan in Pydar, northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now o ...
Fixed Wing Aircraft
*
Doncaster Sheffield Airport
Doncaster Sheffield Airport , formerly named and commonly referred to as Robin Hood Airport, is an unscheduled international airport closed to passenger traffic. The airport is located in Finningley near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. ...
History
The
RAF Search and Rescue Force
The Royal Air Force Search and Rescue Force (SARF or SAR Force) was the Royal Air Force organisation which provided around-the-clock aeronautical search and rescue cover in the United Kingdom, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, from 1986 until 201 ...
began in 1941, mainly rescuing aircrew from ditched aircraft. In 1997, the two control centres in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
were combined into one site at
RAF Kinloss
Royal Air Force Kinloss or RAF Kinloss is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north east of Scotland.
The RAF station opened on 1 April 1939 and served as a training establishme ...
. During its time as part of the RAF its motto was ''Constant Endeavour''.
In March 2016 ownership of tasking search and rescue aircraft transferred from the RAF to HM Coastguard based at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) in Fareham, Hampshire.
Preparedness
Coastguard helicopters and fixed wing aircraft are on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to assist those in difficulty, both at sea and over land. Helicopter crews are at 15 minutes notice from 8am until 10pm, extending to 45 minutes notice from 10pm until 8am overnight. Fixed wing crews are at 45 minutes notice from 8am until 10pm, extending to 60 minutes notice from 10pm until 8am overnight.
Control centre
The control centre is manned by HM Coastguard, who operate long-range HF and satellite communications equipment. And coordinating the tasking of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft following requests from the emergency services. With an area of responsibility spanning almost 1 million square miles, the ARCC deals with incidents across the whole of the UK out to halfway across the
North Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
.
Personnel
ARCC coordinating staff come from a variety of backgrounds within the aviation and military community and work very closely with the Coastguard, Police, Ambulance Authorities and Fire & Rescue Services.
Incidents
During recent years the ARCC has assisted with rescues during the Sheffield floods, the
Grayrigg Rail Crash
The Grayrigg derailment was a fatal railway accident that occurred at approximately 20:15 GMT on 23 February 2007, just to the south of Grayrigg, Cumbria, in the North West England region of the United Kingdom. The accident investigation conc ...
and the
Boscastle floods, and deals with over 2000 incidents each year.
UK Mission Control Centre
The NMOC is also home to the UK
Cospas-Sarsat
The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme is a satellite-aided search and rescue (SAR) initiative. It is organized as a treaty-based, nonprofit, intergovernmental, humanitarian cooperative of 45 nations and agencies (see infobox). It is dedi ...
Mission Control Centre (UKMCC). This is the centre that detects emergency beacons within the UK Search and Rescue Region (SRR) using an advanced computer system. Maritime distress beacon information is passed to the Coastguard authorities but terrestrial alerts are investigated by the UKMCC, often requiring the use of SAR fixed wing aircraft and helicopters to pinpoint the beacon's position.
References
{{reflist
External links
RAF Search and RescueBristow Search and Rescue(HM Coastguard helicopters)
2Excel Aviation(HM Coastguard fixed wing aircraft)
Rescue coordination centres
Rescue aviation
Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force
Organisations based in Moray
Government agencies established in 1997
Sea rescue organisations of the United Kingdom
Emergency services in the United Kingdom
Aviation in the United Kingdom
1997 establishments in Scotland
Aviation in Scotland
Emergency services in Scotland
1997 establishments in the United Kingdom