Bristow Helicopters is celebrating its first anniversary of delivering SAR operations on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) from the company's base at St Athan airfield near Cardiff. Statistics from the base's first year show that crews responded to around 200 calls since going live.

Says chief pilot Olly Padbury: “I'd like to extend our thanks to the local communities for making us feel so welcome over the past 12 months. It's a great privilege to serve this area and we are very much looking forward to the future as part of HM Coastguard's lifesaving service.

“I am particularly pleased that we have been able to establish such positive relationships with emergency service teams north and south of the Bristol Channel. The year has brought an enormous variety of missions: feeling our way through low cloud in the Black Mountains, the beaches of north Devon, ferries, fishermen and Lundy Island. I am so proud of the team here at St Athan and of the service we provide.”

Bristow's SAR helicopters are equipped with night vision, mission management and increased onboard medical capabilities. Russell Torbet, director of UK SAR, adds: “It's a proud day for the SAR team at Bristow. Many years of hard work went into the preparations for taking over the service from the military, so 12 months of successful operations at St Athan is indeed a great milestone.”

In 2013 Bristow won the UK Government national contract to deliver SAR operations on behalf of the MCA. Seven of 10 strategically-located bases have taken over the helicopter SAR responsibility from the military in a phased approach throughout 2015 and 2016. The remaining three, two of which are already operated by Bristow, are set to become part of the new contract in 2017.