From Bristow AW189 thread but more appropriately placed here.
Originally Posted by
shetlander
Care to expand further? Re. Attitude of the MCA.
The clue is in the name really: MARITIME and COASTguard. The current four bases were established on the basis of the maritime need, only one does mountain work and it's far enough from Hampshire that they can imagine it's not happening, taking on a service with 70+% Land SAR jobs without any thought of needing a Land SAR skill set, failure to report publicly details of helicopter SAR work (as concluded in reports of 2001 and 2006), only in 2010 did the flights truly become part of the UK SAR fleet and come under ARCC control, they behave toward SAR partners as though the MCA was part of MI6, the secrecy is forced upon their contractors in spite of the contractors entering the contract process with the belief that SAR is a team game, centralisation is an ongoing feature of MCA planning, MCA media and communications people can't even acknowledge things that are in plain site in public areas. (Abridged version.)
Don't take my word for it. Check out the "officialCoastguard" line. Watch the video "Why we are here" and then tell me that this is an organisation ready to take the central role in the provision of SAR aeronautical support across the UK SRR where 70+% are Land jobs.
https://twitter.com/MCA_media/status/512921828759994368
http://www.bristowsar.com/
Great work lads but your customer is a pain.