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Comments: This Sikorsky S.61N, is one of four S.61Ns operated by CHC (Ireland) Ltd., formerly Bond Helicopters (Ireland) Ltd., under contract to the Irish Coast Guard (formerly the Irish Marine Emergency Service (IMES)) as medium/long-range Search and Rescue (SAR) and MedEvac helicopters. A fifth S.61N is due to be leased to the Irish Air Corps later this year (2002). This aircraft was registered on 26 June 1998. On 1 July 2002 this S.61N was assigned to the Southeastern sector, operating from Waterford. As can be seen from the c/n this is quite an elderly S.61, and in fact was the first to be assembled by Mitsubishi in Japan.
After spells on the American and Japanese civil registers, it served a long time in Britain as G-AYOM, pictured here at Aberdeen, 25 June 1998, a day before reregistration as EI-SAR. |