On 1 January
2015 the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) retired the Agusta Bell AB-412 SP
SAR helicopters, followed on 15 January by the disbandment of 303 SAR Squadron
after 55 years of service. Joan le Poole (Naviation.nl) guest reports for GAR
and takes the opportunity to look back into the history of search and rescue
operations in the RNLAF.
On 1 January 2015 at 1200 local time 303
Squadron officially ceased all operations. The last operational flight was
flown on New Year’s Eve, when a patient was flown from the island of
Terschelling to the mainland. With this the counter in the 303 Squadron
building stopped at 5,459 flights flown in the past 55 years of search and
rescue operations in the RNLAF.
After the retirement of the SH-14D Lynx, the initial plan
was to operate the NH90 helicopters of the Defence Helicopter Command in the
SAR role. However, several issues with this helicopter caused a delay in taking
over this mission. As a temporary solution the SAR task is being carried out by
a civil company, Noordzee Helicopters Vlaanderen (NHV).
With the disappearance of the AB412 from the Dutch skies
the residual capacity for transportation of patients disappeared. The RNLAF is
responsible for executing this task until another party takes over. For now,
two Cougar helicopters of 300 Squadron, based at Gilze-Rijen Air Base, will
operate from Leeuwarden to fulfill this task.
http://www.globalaviationresource.com/v2/2015/01/31/aviation-news-royal-netherlands-air-force-retires-ab-412-and-disbands-303-sar-squadron/
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