Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New helicopters to take on rescue mission from Inverness

One of the new Sikorsky helicopter which will be based at Inverness
One of the new Sikorsky helicopter which will be based at Inverness

The colours may be different but the mission is still the same for the new search and rescue helicopters based at Inverness.

In two weeks time, on April 1, Bristow Helicopters will take over responsibility for rescues in the north from the RAF.

The company won the 10-year contract for search and rescue in March 2013 and has spent around £7million building a new base at Inverness Airport, that will employ around 30.

The base was opened yesterday with guests getting a glimpse of the two £25million Sikorsky 92s that will fly mercy missions across much of Scotland.

And it is an Inverness man who will lead the team.

Chief pilot John McIntyre was brought up and educated in Inverness before joining Bristow as a trainee.

The specially-built helicopters are fitted with state-of-the art equipment, including two winches with 290ft of wire.

And as well as a range of life-saving equipment, the crew will have the ability to send electrocardiograms by e-mail to hospital, forewarning medical staff about their casualty’s condition. Infrared cameras mounted on the front of the camera will allow night searching. The crew, which will work 24-hour shifts on call, will be required to be airborne within 15 minutes of receiving word of a rescue during the day.

Bosses at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) paid tribute to the RAF – and their Sea Kings – for their service over the past four decades. Richard Parkes, the MCA’s director of maritime operations, said that the RAF had “set a challenge to emulate”.

He added: “I appreciate that change does not come without a considerable amount of anxiety and trepidation.”

But he described the new helicopters as “magnificent machines”.

Samantha Willenbacher, director of UK Search and Rescue at Bristow Helicopters, said: “We know this is a service that people rely on in times of great need and we are committed to continuing the great work of the military.”

And members of Highland mountain teams were also positive.

Willie Anderson, leader of Cairngorm MRT said: “The aircraft is sensational. It seems they have thought of everything and we are looking forward to working with it.”