New air search plane to take off in autumn

Wednesday 04 July 2018

After several years of delays, Channel Islands Air Search (CIAS) are finally confident that their new £800,000 aircraft will be ready to take flight in the autumn of this year.

The new search and rescue aircraft, originally commissioned in 2014, is due to be shipped to the UK in July and be operational by the autumn.

CIAS have been hoping to secure a new aircraft since their previous plane - a Trilander known as Lion's Pride - crashed on the island's north coast in 2013 during strong winds of up to 70mph. Since then, they have been using an "interim aircraft with limited search capability."

The rescue service had hoped a replacement would be ready by 2016, but that was delayed to 2017. Its arrival was then postponed again until spring 2018, apparently due to the complexity of the aircraft's design. But now CIAS say they are sure that it will be ready by autumn of this year.

Representatives from CIAS recently visited Britten-Norman, who are manufacturing the plane on the Isle of Wight, to see what progress had been made on the hotly-anticipated replacement. 

Roger Dadd, founder of the CIAS, who also visited the manufacturer, said: “We remain confident that a new aircraft, built to a high standard and with all the latest search and rescue equipment, will finally be with us in the autumn. 

Pictured: CIAS' Air Search One plane in action.

“Presently, the aircraft is awaiting the wing section which is being manufactured in Romania and is expected to ship to the UK in July.”

Mr Dadd continued: “Work has commenced fitting the fuselage with the cabling, instrumentation and additional work required to accommodate the FLIR camera as well as the radar.

“The consoles containing the computer equipment and touch screens have been completed and the wing section will be attached as soon as it arrives. The aircraft will be test flown by BN pilots before it is sent to the paint shop.”

Pictured: CIAS crew members Tim Robins, Graham Gilbert and Jayne Shorto on their visit to Britten-Norman.

CIAS had to raise a sum of £800,000 to pay for the new plane, as well as having annual running costs of £140,000. A spokesperson for CIAS explained that these costs include paying for fuel, insurance and servicing aircrafts when needed. 

Commenting on the fundraising efforts involved in paying for this long-awaited plane, Mr Dadd said: “On behalf of everyone involved with Air Search, I’d like to thank the public for their continued support. Even with an interim aircraft, it takes many thousands of pounds to keep this voluntary service in the air and we are grateful for every donation we receive, no matter the amount."