Well well, crab giving half truths again!
M.C.A. second standby aircraft.
Each 24hr unit, Sumburgh, Stornoway and Lee do have a dedicated second standby aircraft.( Do you want callsigns? But if you are as much in the loop as you make out, then you should already know them!) Portland being a 12hr. unit shares the standby machine from Lee. This after Portlands' standby machine was destroyed after suffering an in flight catastrophic engine fire while on a job! All public knowledge btw. There is now no spare machine at Portland purely because the M.C.A. did not see it as required/would not spend the money!! Them nasty chaps at Bristow did offer a replacement, but the M.C.A. would not accept that a spare machine is required for an S.A.R. base. FACT. This is even carried over to the new contract so successfully worked out by your compatriots and C.H.C. (Now who is the money grabbing contractor??)
There is no second standby crew purely because the M.C.A. will not pay for one. And with the limited training hours just what would they do?? Sit around playing uckers?
It is all down to what the client will or will not pay for. We do not operate in an ideal world i'm afraid.
Yes DtD, good question! Where is crabette?? I hear that schoolkids are getting the benefit of her wisdom. I hope they can work out how an AW139 has more ground clearance than an S61, Beats me!!