Hi guys,
Iīm not familiar with the UK system but I can give some insight on the portuguese SAR scheme that produces some very long-range missions trough out the year. (Someone already posted some information on the 1st page).
Portugal has the largest Search Rescue Region (SRR) in Europe, representing more or less 6.000.000km2. They are coincident with the Flight Information Regions (FIRs) of Lisbon and Santa Maria and they stretch from the portuguese mainland to the Azores and Madeira islands.
The portuguese air force and portuguese navy are the main entities responsible for providing SAR coverage on this large area. Thereīs a RCC (Rescue Coordination Center) and a MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Center) in Lisbon and Azores, and a secondary MRCC in Madeira.
The portuguese air force supplies the air component of the SAR scheme, and this includes:
- 1 EH-101 "Merlin" and a C-295 on 24hr alert at Montijo AB, near Lisbon.
- 1 EH-101 "Merlin" and a C-295 on 24hr alert at Porto Santo island, Madeira.
- 1 EH-101 "Merlin" (+1 reserve) and a C-295 on 24hr alert at Lajes AB, Terceira, Azores.
- 1 P-3C or C-130H (for ultra long range) in Beja AB/Montijo AB. (Thereīs always on them in 24hr alert)
- 2 Alouette 3 helicopters (one in Ovar AB, another in Beja AB) for short flights.
As you can imagine itīs a very difficult area to cover, and the P-3C is the only aircraft capable of covering almost all the area (the southwest corner of the SRR is still out of range, but they can be deployed to Cape Verde if needed).
The EH-101 "Merlin" is and excellent long-range SAR helicopter. 350NM+ missions over the sea departing from Azores are quite common, and generally 2 aircraft take part on those kind of missions: a fixed wing (a C-295 or a P-3C) and a EH-101 "Merlin".
On the areas outside the Merlin range, the only support available is from the fixed wing assets, and they usually deploy by parachute SAR kitīs and coordinate with civilian vessels in the area a SAR recovery.
If an airliner went down between a 350/380NM nautical miles from any of those bases, or other islands if in the mid-atlantic, an EH-101 "Merlin" could be in the operational area in 3H30 hours, with 30 minutes on station. A C-295 would be there sooner, providing SAR kits, coordination between any other vessels in the area and area evaluation.
We can assume that on a best case scenario the Merlin could retrieve 6 persons on a 30 minute window, at that distance. But, of course, everything depends on the operational situation and the information available to the SAR crews.
From my personal experience - and retrieving the UK part of the topic - having a long range fixed wing aircraft for SAR support is indeed very important on these kind of scenario.
A very cool video about the portuguese Merlin drivers, 751 Squadron, can be found here:
Rays of Hope on Vimeo
Cheers,