184 Call Outs for Humberside Search and Rescue Helicopter

Tuesday, 20 June 2023 10:29

By Matthew Pells

There were 2,580 civilian Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter taskings in the UK in the year ending March 2023, with 184 of those involving the Humberside based helicopter.

The figures represent an overall 6% decrease compared to the year ending March 2022

On average, SAR helicopters across the UK responded to 7 taskings a day during the year ending March 2023.

1,466 people were rescued and 527 assisted by SAR helicopters across all taskings during the year. This is a decrease of 9% and an increase of 33% respectively on the year ending March 2022.

The highest proportion (43%) of people assisted were taskings from the Lydd base. The biggest increase of people assisted compared to the year ending March 2022 were taskings from the Prestwick base where numbers more than trebled from 41 to 149. Prestwick has historically always been a busier base due to its centralised location and proximity to both coastal and mountain recreation sites. Most bases saw a decrease in the number of persons they assisted.

Of all taskings, 51% (1,316) were rescues or recoveries.

Base	Location	Taskings
Prestwick	West Scotland	396
Caernarfon	North Wales	337
Inverness	East Scotland	312
Newquay	South West England	249
Sumburgh	North East Scotland	237
Lydd	South East england	233
St Athan	South Wales	226
Lee on Solent	South England	214
Stornoway	North West Scotland	192
Humberside	East England	184

In the year ending March 2023, SARH taskings were consistent with previous years patterns, showing the same broad peak over the summer and autumn months as the previous year. June 2022 (278 taskings) saw the highest number of taskings recorded in June since records began.

The month with the highest number of taskings in 2022 was July with 320 taskings. This was lower than the July of the previous year which had 355 taskings.

Winter trends, from November to February, were broadly consistent with previous years, with a slight increase in December 2022.

In the year ending March 2023, there were:

1,197 land based taskings which accounted for 46% of taskings, compared to 48% in the previous year
923 coast taskings (occurring between 0.2 mile inland and 3 nautical miles out to sea) which accounted for 36% of all tasking, the same proportion as in the previous year
460 maritime taskings (Taskings that occur more than 3 nautical miles out to sea) which accounted for 18% of all taskings, compared to 16% in the previous year