AAAAAH Bristows!!!!

[Nigel H-J]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21934077


Nigel.

[DaveB]

Well.. if you're gonna pull the RAF and RN, Bristow is the only real alternative. It's not like they're new or unknown.

ATB
DaveB

[Tomliner]

Wonder if any MP's own shares in Bristows? Just an idle thought,I'm not really cynical EricT

[Garry Russell]

Isn't this just an extension of what's been on the go since the 1980's.??

A lot of the South Coast duties had already been taken from the military and placed with Bristows using the Coastguard helicopters.

Although at least it was not a US company at the time

[NigelC]

From a discussion on Pprune....

...they pointed out that whilst SAR spent most of its time rescuing overweight walkers in flip flops from Ben Nevis or teenagers with a Darwin complex stuck on a pedalo in the North Sea, their raison d'etre was the rescue of aircrew during times of war.

Now I'm not saying an invasion and fight for national survival is imminent, but I do wonder whether that key fact was remembered during the contract discussions. I'd hate for there to be a shooting match and we find out that SAR is no longer able to pick up crews because the threat is deemed to be too great and the Board and shareholders simply wouldn't stand for losing an ac. Or they do go out, but only after we pay the equivalent of a year's contract in advance for one mission. I'm sure it's all been considered, just saying ...

[Vancouver]

Some things should be left alone as sacrosanct. Here in Van the Feds 3000 miles away in Ottawa decided to close a busy Coast Guard station with no consultation process whatsoever with those in the know, and to ensure nothing could be done in an appeals process, they demolished the base PDQ in un-Canadian fashion (normally simple things of this nature languish for months before anything is done). The whole thing is money based and stinks. Now rather than a 5 min response time aspiring drowners can expect 45 minutes from a further less busy station.
Not waving...Drowning