Crab Said;
"Yes, I put my hand up to MRCC v MRSC, I copied 3D without checking. As for command and control, the very fact that over 30nm means checking with the ARCCK is a clear indicator of who has overall control of all SAR helicopters in the UK - Kinloss. That logically leads to them being quite entitled to log every SAR job as one that they have co-ordinated whether they were directly involved or not."
You missed my point. We tell Kinloss after the helo has landed at the end of the job. We would like to be co-operative and inform them as soon as possible before lift off but sometimes we are too busy and a second job starts during the first. This leads to a situation where the Kinloss guys congratulate themselves on "coordinating" a job yesterday that they only knew about today.
"The fact that you don't have a direct line to Kinloss ...."
We do. When I hit the button a voice says "Hello Portland". It does not say "This the national coordinator of only 13 assets how may we help you.."
(An MRCC typically has around 40 assets).
The sole purpose of Kinloss is to act as a booking agency that will calculate the nearest and fastest helicopter. As a general guide if the target is within 30 nm of Portland or Lee-on-Solent then it is not worth their time to work out who could get there first.
What I think is a fraud is that an MRCC evaluates the situation, conducts the search planning, coordinates other assets, deploys a helo as minor asset in the search, tells Kinloss about it later and then Kinloss claims credit for having done some work when they did nothing other than stick a pin in a map.
Last edited by Send'em; 19th Nov 2007 at 22:52.