Air-sea Rescue - Helicopter

Helicopter

Helicopters have taken a primary role in air-sea rescue since their introduction in the 1940s. Helicopters can fly in rougher weather than fixed-wing aircraft, and they can deliver injured passengers directly to hospitals or other emergency facilities. Helicopters can hover above the scene of an accident while fixed-wing aircraft must circle, or for seaplanes, land and taxi toward the accident. Helicopters can save those stranded among rocks and reefs, where seaplanes are unable to go. Landing facilities for helicopters can be much smaller and cruder than for fixed-wing aircraft. Additionally, the same helicopter that is capable of air-sea rescue can take part in a wide variety of other operations including those on land. Disadvantages include the loud noise causing difficulties in communicating with the survivors and the strong downdraft that the hovering helicopter creates which increases wind chill danger for already-soaked and hypothermic patients. Helicopters also tend to have limited range and endurance.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) was the first agency to evaluate the potential of helicopter rescue assistance, beginning in 1938. Two early Sikorsky R-4s were acquired in 1941, and training was initiated at Coast Guard Station Brooklyn in New York. In 1942, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy fliers trained in Brooklyn after which the British bought a large number of "hoverflies" from Sikorsky to re-organize 705 Naval Air Squadron. The first helicopter air-sea rescue was carried out in 1946 when a Sikorsky S-51 being demonstrated to the U.S. Navy was used in an emergency to pull a downed Navy pilot from the ocean.

The first peace-time air-sea rescue squadron exclusively using helicopters was No. 275 Squadron RAF re-organized in 1953 at Linton-on-Ouse. The unit painted their Bristol Sycamore aircraft all yellow, with lettering on the side reading "RESCUE"—a paint scheme that has continued to the present.

In the 1950s, some models of helicopter such as the Bell 47 and 48 were fitted with pontoons so that they could rest on both water and land. Other helicopters such as the Sea King and the Seaguard were made with a water-resistant hull which allowed them to settle directly onto the water for long enough to effect a rescue. Such amphibious helicopters came to the fore in the 1960s but have been largely replaced by helicopters unable to land on water, due to high aircraft development costs. Amphibious helicopters paid dividends for rescue personnel who enjoyed greater safety and success during operations. Operations that use non-amphibious helicopters rely to a higher degree on hoists, rescue baskets, and rescue swimmers.