Accredited official statistics

Search and Rescue Helicopter Statistics: Year ending March 2023

Published 20 June 2023

About this release

This release covers civilian search and rescue helicopter (SARH) operations in the UK. The data originates from the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC) who are responsible for the co-ordination of search and rescue (SAR) helicopters, and is provided to the Department for Transport (DfT) by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). This release covers the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

Headline figures

There were 2,580 civilian SAR helicopter taskings in the UK in the year ending March 2023. This is a 6% decrease compared to the year ending March 2022 (Chart 1).

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 ending March 2023. 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. Most bases saw a decrease in the number of persons they assisted.

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

SAR helicopter services supported and completed 70% of all taskings during the year ending March 2023, a similar proportion to the previous year. A further 27% were terminated and 3% were diverted, suspended or cancelled.

Chart 1: Total number of civilian SARH taskings, April 2018 to March 2023 (SARH0101)

Overall trends

Tasking definition

The response of a SAR helicopter to an emergency as notified by the ARCC.

SARH taskings for the year ending March 2020 followed a seasonal pattern including a peak in the summer months (July and August) followed by a decrease commencing in September and levelling off throughout winter (Chart 2).

In the year ending March 2021, SARH taskings were initially lower than previous years in April (64 taskings), when the UK-wide lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic was applied, and increased to near previous levels between May and June. August recorded the second highest monthly volume of SARH taskings on record (365 taskings) - attributable to an increase in beach taskings following lockdown easing. This may be related to summer travel behaviour changes and preference for domestic holidays in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The trend of increased taskings around the summer period continued into the year ending March 2022 which recorded the highest number of taskings (2,747 taskings).

Chart 2: Civilian SARH taskings by year and month, April 2019 to March 2023 (SARH0112)

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 our 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. Prestwick saw the most taskings in the year ending March 2023 with 396 taskings. Prestwick has historically always been a busier base due to its centralised location and proximity to both coastal and mountain recreation sites (Chart 2).

Tasking categories and outcomes

Tasking category definitions

Rescue or Recovery: The transfer of person(s) resulting in them being delivered to a safe environment (including medical facilities).

Search: Search for craft, person(s) or anything else which does not result in moving a person.

Pre-arranged Transfer: Transfer of patients or organs between medical establishments.

Support: Includes on-scene assistance, pre-positioning of SAR units for a potential incident and movement of equipment/personnel. This type of tasking may result in person(s) being assisted, though depending on the type of support given, we may not always know how many people were assisted.

In the year ending March 2023, there were 1,316 rescue and recovery taskings which made up 51% of all taskings. This was followed by 570 support taskings (22%), 412 search only taskings (16%) and 282 pre-arranged transfer taskings (11%) (Chart 3).

Pre-arranged transfer taskings had the highest proportion of taskings completed (91%), followed by 84% for rescue and recovery. The majority of support taskings were terminated (70%) which was the highest percentage of terminated taskings across the categories. The majority of search only taskings were completed (73%), followed by terminated (26%) (Chart 3).

Chart 3: Number of taskings by tasking type and outcome, year ending March 2023 (SARH0102)

Location of tasking

Location definitions

Coast: Taskings occurring between 0.2 mile inland and 3 nautical miles out to sea.

Maritime: Taskings that occur more than 3 nautical miles out to sea.

Land: All other taskings that are not classed as coastal or maritime.

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 which accounted for 36% of all tasking, the same proportion as in the previous year
• 460 maritime taskings which accounted for 18% of all taskings, compared to 16% in the previous year (Chart 4)

Chart 4: Proportion of taskings by location type, year ending March 2023 (SARH0112)

In the year ending March 2023, the majority of:

• pre-arranged transfer taskings took place on land (66%), a decrease of 3 percentage points compared to the year ending March 2022
• rescue/recovery taskings took place on land (47%), a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to the year ending March 2022
• search only taskings took place at the coast (45%), a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to the year ending March 2022
• support taskings took place at the coast (50%), an increase of 4 percentage points compared to the year ending March 2022 (Chart 5)

Chart 5: Proportion of taskings by tasking type and location type, year ending March 2023 (SARH0112)

Maps of SARH taskings and bases

Map of tasking location by base

In the year ending March 2023, there were:

• 192 taskings from Stornoway base (North West Scotland)
• 237 taskings from Sumburgh base (North East Scotland)
• 312 taskings from Inverness base (East Scotland)
• 184 taskings from Humberside base (East England)
• 233 taskings from Lydd (South East England)
• 214 taskings from Lee on Solent (South England)
• 249 taskings from Newquay (South West England)
• 226 taskings from St. Athan base (South Wales)
• 337 taskings from Caernarfon (North Wales)
• 396 taskings from Prestwick base (West Scotland) - which covers the Lake District, Ben Nevis, and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs

Map 1: Tasking location by base, year ending March 2023

Map of tasking category

In the year ending March 2023, there were:

• 1,316 rescue/recovery taskings
• 570 support taskings
• 412 search taskings
• 282 pre-arranged transfers

Map 2: Tasking location by tasking category, year ending March 2023

Map of civilian search and rescue bases

There are currently 10 civilian search and rescue bases open in the UK, with the taskings these bases have been assigned to up to March 2023 detailed in this report. An additional base, Portland, previously responded to search and rescue taskings until its closure in June 2017.

Map 3: Map of civilian search and rescue bases

Background information

This release covers civilian SARH operations in the UK, for all 10 current bases. In April 2015, the operational phase of a new contract to operate civilian SARH services in the UK, managed by the MCA, commenced. These new arrangements took over from the previous mixture of military and coastguard SARH services.

The DfT is now responsible for the production of statistics on SARH activity. The data originates from the ARCC who are responsible for the co-ordination of a SAR helicopter and is provided to the DfT by the MCA.

National Statistics

These statistics were designated as National Statistics in 2018. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. The Code of Practice for Statistics plays an essential role in ensuring that statistics published by government inspire the public confidence through demonstrating trustworthiness and providing high-quality statistics.

Further information about SARH statistics is available, including:

• data tables
• interactive dashboard
• notes and definitions
• guidance and quality information

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Contact details

Search and rescue helicopter statistics

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