Was this a massive hinderance to the police not getting on the island for 90 mins
In a word: No (And for what itīs worth....60 minutes. 48 minutes from the time the local police district requested the Police National Response troop to respond.)
UK media reporting has been, well, a bit iffy on the subject
The Norwegian Police helo (singular....), EC-135 is only equipped for surveilance type jobs, and has no tactical transport capability. Its crew are NOT trained to do tactical insertions of the Police National Response troop.
The helo was not stuck "down south", it was stood down for summer holiday (
) for a limited time to preserve actual on duty time for the rest of the year. Crews recalled from leave had the helo stationed at ENGM airborne within 2 hrs.
Police made a comment that the helo transport for the Police National Response troop was some way to the south. That is correct. That is the Bell 412s of the RNoAF 720 Sqn and to a lesser degree, the SAR helo of the 330 Sqn detatchment, both at Rygge/ENRY about 40nm south of Oslo.
720 Sqn are the ones that are supposed to fly both the Police and/or the Army SF folks.
15:30 Friday afternoon...........