Low flying helicopter 23rd @ 4am

Bob_the_dog

It was a medevac of an ill newborn from Inishmann. Really hope everything ended up ok. It is a fantastic service provided to the islands and i for one didn't realise how frequent they were called upon.

(Irish Coastguard now have a Facebook page with info on call outs).

Storm 10

Its going to be very busy from now on as UCHG is the appointed Hospital for all medical transfers for the Air Corps and Coastguard helicopters along the West Coast and inland. Its wonderful that seriously ill patients can get to Hospital so quickly thanks to the brave men and women in the rescue and medical sercice. Last week the Shannon Coastguard helicopter carried out the longest mission ever, they went 150 miles South of Cork to airlift a critically ill crewman from a pipe laying ship and took him to Cork hospital, the Air Corps CASA maritime patrol aircraft flew top cover in the event of any incident with the helicopter.

shampoosuicide

the one last night seemed to be going over and back, or circling or something? idk, quite weird if it's a medivac that's presumably going straight to the hospital. this does seem to have become a thing all of a sudden

NordicDiver

shampoosuicide wrote: »

the one last night seemed to be going over and back, or circling or something? idk, quite weird if it's a medivac that's presumably going straight to the hospital. this does seem to have become a thing all of a sudden

car/motorbike accident salthill

Storm 10

shampoosuicide wrote: »

the one last night seemed to be going over and back, or circling or something? idk, quite weird if it's a medivac that's presumably going straight to the hospital. this does seem to have become a thing all of a sudden

RESCUE 115 came in from the Aran Islands, she circled twice to decrease altitude/airspeed to land at UCHG.

Helicopters will cicrle the pad at UCHG to slow down and descend if they are moving too fast, nothing weird about it whatsoever.

They will also land/take off into the Wind.

Storm 10

Ludikrus wrote: »

I'm in knocknacarra - clybaun road, a helicopter just passed over and did last night as well.

That was RESCUE 115.

shampoosuicide

Storm 10 wrote: »

RESCUE 115 came in from the Aran Islands, she circled twice to decrease altitude/airspeed to land at UCHG.

Helicopters will cicrle the pad at UCHG to slow down and descend if they are moving too fast, nothing weird about it whatsoever.

it's weird when you're house is nowhere near the hospital

Storm 10

shampoosuicide wrote: »

it's weird when you're house is nowhere near the hospital

Ah yes I can understand that but if she is moving quick you can imagine her turning circle for descent/airpseed los will be big enough, lovely noise out of the S92.

Dan_Solo

NordicDiver wrote: »

car/motorbike accident salthill

But the flight itself was a transfer to Dublin?

thesandeman

Storm 10 wrote: »

Yes it was "RESCUE 115" EI-ICG, Brand new Irish Coast Guard Helicopter its a Sikorsky S92.

It's defiantly much louder or hangs around longer than previous ones though.
It doesn't bother me and as somebody else said it can only be for the good in some kind of way when it's around.

Dan_Solo

thesandeman wrote: »

It's defiantly much louder

Bloody minded, those helicopters!:D

thesandeman

LOL. Almost as bloody minded as my predictive text.

vulcan57

Here she is on the pad at UCHG last Thursday night 28/02/13

islanderre

Class picture Vulcan57....... lighting is brillient

Gremlinertia

Beautiful pic there vulcan..

Storm 10

thesandeman wrote: »

It's defiantly much louder or hangs around longer than previous ones though.
It doesn't bother me and as somebody else said it can only be for the good in some kind of way when it's around.

She ( New S92 ) is 25% faster and has longer range/endurance than the previous S61N, The S61N was loud too but 100% the S92 can be heard from quite a distance away but the S61N was always way more louder upon landing as they had to use way more power as she was landing, the S92 is so advanced that she uses less than 60% power when landing.

Interestingly enough you may still catch or hear the old S61N when she arrives at UCHG as they are still in use with RESCUE 118 based at Sligo Airport. RESCUE 116 ( Dublin ) & RESCUE 117 ( Waterford ) still all use the S61N as they are awaiting the arrival of S92's for each base.

jkforde

have they changed their approach into UCHG for the new chopper because it's been flying directly overhead (Fort Lorenzo) for the last two weeks.... or is each path it takes solely based on current wind conditions and destination?

Storm 10

THe approach is into the wind so they will land into the wind direction, they were in last night with a casualty and as I type they are coming in again, what a brilliant service

vulcan57

jkforde wrote: »

have they changed their approach into UCHG for the new chopper because it's been flying directly overhead (Fort Lorenzo) for the last two weeks.... or is each path it takes solely based on current wind conditions and destination?

Depends a lot on where they're coming from as well. They make a habit of coming in over Barna and Knocknacarra when coming in from the Islands. If there's a diver, especially if the bends are a possibility, they will often come right down the bay as far as possible to keep the altitude low. If they're coming up from the south they will come straight across the bay. Obviously, this is not writen in stone, and weather and wind will play a significant role in their approach

jkforde

since the flight mentioned by the OP I've noticed flights over the house at least once a day now, there was even one very low flying two nights ago around 4am-ish that actually shook the house a bit. and I've noticed a definite increase in helicopter activity in general over the city in the last few weeks. is it all emergency/medical flights to/from UCHG or what's up?

cfeeneyinterior

Yea, what the hell is going on. I feel like someone moved our house into the flight path of an airport or something...

vulcan57

jkforde wrote: »

since the flight mentioned by the OP I've noticed flights over the house at least once a day now, there was even one very low flying two nights ago around 4am-ish that actually shook the house a bit. and I've noticed a definite increase in helicopter activity in general over the city in the last few weeks. is it all emergency/medical flights to/from UCHG or what's up?

Yep, all emergency flights into the hospital. The Irish Air Corps with call sign Medevac 112 is the trial aircraft to assess if there is a need for a dedicated air ambulance service. She is in on a regular basis some times 2 or 3 times a day, she is the smaller green one. The Sligo based Coast Guard helicopter, call sign Rescue 118, comes in occasionally, she was in to night around 10.30. And the Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter, call sign Rescue 115 is the more common CG helicopter in here and the noisiest of the three, she was in the other morning and also in around 3,00 this morning bringing a patient in from Inishboffin.

Aerohead

That medevac service with the Air Corps is up and running now with UHG the preferred hospital for medical emergency transfers, they can lift a heart attack victim from a field in Mayo and be in the casualty dept in Galway in 20 minutes. it would be a long trip in an Ambulance, Its a fantastic life saving service that is now being provided by the HSE, Air Corps and the Coastguard. The Coastguard are also airlifting crew members off Trawlers and Cargo Ships that suffer injury or medical emergency problems at sea and of course its a vital service for the people living on our Islands.

I can only hazard a guess at how many lives these brave people have saved since this service started but its wonderful to think that such a service is available to the public if and when you might need it. Well done to all concrened.

You can follow Medevac 112 on facebook and see all the wonderful lifesaving work they carry out in conjunction with the HSE. You can also follow Rescue 115 Coastguard Helicopter from Shannon as well on facebook and see all the lifesaving work they carry out as well.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Medevac-112/499155760107215?fref=ts

Link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Rescue-115-Official/202427363114947?fref=ts

vulcan57

Aerohead wrote: »

That medevac service with the Air Corps is up and running now with UHG the preferred hospital for medical emergency transfers, they can lift a heart attack victim from a field in Mayo and be in the casualty dept in Galway in 20 minutes. it would be a long trip in an Ambulance, Its a fantastic life saving service that is now being provided by the HSE, Air Corps and the Coastguard. The Coastguard are also airlifting crew members off Trawlers and Cargo Ships that suffer injury or medical emergency problems at sea and of course its a vital service for the people living on our Islands.

I can only hazard a guess at how many lives these brave people have saved since this service started but its wonderful to think that such a service is available to the public if and when you might need it. Well done to all concrened.

The medevac service provided by the Air Corps is still on a 12 month trial until about June. Can't imagine they will come up with the conclusion that it was not needed!

Storm 10

jkforde wrote: »

there was even one very low flying two nights ago around 4am-ish that actually shook the house a bit. and I've noticed a definite increase in helicopter activity in general over the city in the last few weeks. is it all emergency/medical flights to/from UCHG or what's up?

That was "RESCUE 115" based in Shannon, It is all emergency flights/inter hospital transfers/trawlers/mountain rescues everything really, if you have twitter you can follow @ambulanceNAS ,thats the ambulance co-ordination. They almost always send tweets saying if they have tasked IRCG ( Irish Coast Guard ) or MEDEVAC112 ( Irish Air Corps AW139 ) to an incident.

I have noticed that when the tasking is for a STEMI patient that the heli will almost always come to UCHG, it must be a center of excellence.

joeKel73

Feels like living next to an airport at times over the last few months here in Shantalla. Personally I love it!

joeKel73

Aaaand they're off again...

snubbleste

House values in Shantalla are going to fall

nuac

Great to see this service in operation.

snubbleste

I heard four helicopter landings at the hospital yesterday.
For those who live in the area, how many landings/take-offs are there on average per day?
I've yet to observe it coming from the east or north, always seem to fly from the west or south on approach..why?