Sligo SAR?

goldie fish

Now that the Government has decided no more state money will go to prop up Sligo Regional Airport, will the SAR heli have to move to Donegal or elsewhere?

sdanseo

Donegal or Knock.

meathstevie

San Angelo ? Share the cost between Dublin and Belfast ?

goldie fish

meathstevie wrote: »

San Angelo ? Share the cost between Dublin and Belfast ?

Where's that?

Irish_polizei

goldie fish wrote: »

Where's that?

Enniskillen Airport i believe

goldie fish

Irish_polizei wrote: »

Enniskillen Airport i believe

Too far from the west.

punchdrunk

I feel sorry for any of the crews who were posted to Sligo and bought property as family homes in the area at the height of the boom,who now may have to forcibly move again

Rawhead

Knock is only up the road (40 mins) from Sligo. It's the 4th biggest airport in Ireland and it covers the same area. Makes sense and it wouldn't mean the crews having to relocate.

searescue

Rawhead wrote: »

Knock is only up the road (40 mins) from Sligo. It's the 4th biggest airport in Ireland and it covers the same area. Makes sense and it wouldn't mean the crews having to relocate.

Unfortunately not, at the moment the lads have two options come 8/9 o' clock - sleep on site (beds on station) or go home and carry the pager. If the pager goes off when you're at home then the helicopter has to be in the air 45 mins from when you get the beeps. So they really would be pushing it to not have to move. Otherwise, they'll be spending most nights on station - and it's probably the quietest of all four heli bases.

Rawhead

Would they not operate similar to the fire service with a 24hr on roster. Surely there is more than one crew covering each station.

maglite

Does a helicopter need an Airport? Will a landing site not work just as well?

punchdrunk

Rawhead wrote: »

Would they not operate similar to the fire service with a 24hr on roster. Surely there is more than one crew covering each station.

they do work a 24hr Roster it's from 1pm to 1pm the following day

maglite wrote: »

Does a helicopter need an Airport? Will a landing site not work just as well?

you still need the refueling,air-traffic control and fire services for an airport

Rawhead

If they operate a 24hr shift then moving to Knock would not be the end of the world. It would just mean sleeping in the crew quarters as opposed to their own beds and a little longer of a commute to work. Cannot see any other airport with a long term future from Shannon on up the western sea board.

searescue

Rawhead wrote: »

If they operate a 24hr shift then moving to Knock would not be the end of the world. It would just mean sleeping in the crew quarters as opposed to their own beds and a little longer of a commute to work. Cannot see any other airport with a long term future from Shannon on up the western sea board.

Correct and I agree.

Klunk001

Knock is bit like Cork as it gets it's fair share of fog which is not ideal. Current bases are classed as Coastal airfields having the option of low level routes back to base from the sea. The fact that Knock is also an elevated site wouldn't help in my opinion. From a SAR base point of view Carrickfin would tick more boxes but not all than Knock.

goldie fish

I wonder is their any chance the Coastguard would be let use the original location for the NW heli, Finner Camp?

punchdrunk

who owns it?

DOD??

meathstevie

goldie fish wrote: »

Too far from the west.

Based on this link ( google http://maps.google.ie/maps?hl=en&tab=wl ) I beg to differ. It has the added advantage that the most modern acute hospital in the North - West of the island of Ireland will open in spring/summer 2012 less than 2 miles from it. Also, it would be very close to Lough Erne that has a very busy RNLI station that regularly relies on the Sligo helicopter for assistance anyway.

Klunk001

According to the minister for Transport it's staying where it is. Got a mention on Prime Time this evening.