If I'm right, then with Ireland being a member of EASA, an Irish SAR operator will come under PART-OPS and have an EASA AOC with a SPA-HEMS and SPO-HEC approval (and possibly a few others as well) issued by the local competent authority (in this case the IAA). In that case you don't need a regulator to strap on a pair, just an operator. And all they need to do is describe the role of the technical crew member appropriately and make sure he/she is trained and checked in their ability to discharge the role.
PS Guys are we absolutely sure that the rear crew are not already technical crew members ? I can't imagine that the winchman is not, given that he must be interacting with the crew during winching operations ?
Last edited by puntosaurus; 19th Apr 2017 at 18:16.