The Irish Coast Guard has taken delivery of a Sikorsky S-92 SAR helicopter for the Dublin region at Weston airport. It is the fourth S-92 base to come into operation for the Coast Guard and means that all four bases now have upgraded helicopters. The latest S-92s replace the S-61 which was in use until recently at Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford.

The S-92 is said to be very well-suited to SAR; it has an extended range of 270 nm, is faster and safer than previous types, can carry more casualties and can fly at higher altitude in worse weather.

Coast Guard director Chris Reynolds says: “This has been an exceptional year in terms of the number of incidents, but there has been significant progress in modernising and further developing the Coast Guard. The new helicopter fleet will greatly enhance our capacity to provide a first-class response to all emergencies in the year ahead, whether offshore or inland.”

Last year was one of the busiest ever for the Coast Guard, which responded to 2,627 incidents involving fishing craft, leisure vessels and mountaineers.