Soteria SAR

Nicky Smith, a former RAF search and rescue pilot, is now one of the main drivers in Soteria’s bid to win the SAR-H contract in the United Kingdom. The SAR-H contract is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI). It starts in 2012 and the winner should be decided by the beginning of December this year. Soteria is a group that includes CHC, RBS and Thales, and they will use the Sikorsky S92 as their SAR platform.

As Nicky Smith, Soteria’s Transition Manager, says, “We feel we are uniquely placed to run the SAR-H because we are already using the same machine (the S92) alongside the AW139 on the Coastguard contract, and we are learning what needs to be modified and changed.”

Soteria’s rival for the bid, The Air Knight Consortium, is planning to use the Eurocopter EC225...