Skids are for kids and the Mk9 Lynx was never a SAR helicopter!
All the 189 needed was a double set of wheels to spread the weight or just a fixed undercarriage if retracting wheels were too difficult.
It is what happens when you take a corporate helicopter and try to turn it into a SAR machine - was nothing learned from the 139?????
P3 - just stating the obvious - I don't have to drip, AW and the MCA seem to be scoring own goals - all very avoidable
Heli 1 - I've landed the Wessex and the Sea King in plenty of places that the 139/189 just couldn't have managed - the last thing you need on a SAR job is to be hamstrung by a poorly designed undercarriage.