THE AGUSTA Westland AW139 is the workhorse of the Air Corps. First purchased by the Defence Forces in 2006, these helicopters are capable of all kinds of roles. They can carry 2½ tonnes of equipment and deploy troops.
They helped put out gorse fires in Donegal last May and also provide an air ambulance service. They even come equipped with an incubator for premature babies.
On Saturday they were used in a training exercise to familiarise mountain rescue services with their operations.
Two dozen mountain rescue volunteers from Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Mayo gathered on a bitterly cold day in Finner Camp, Co Donegal, for an event in which teams practised getting in and out of the helicopter during the day and at night.
Finner range, where the Army carries out target practice, provided the dramatic backdrop for crews to be landed in an isolated area at night.
The exercise was meant to simulate the frequent occurrence of mountain rescue teams having to be deployed in isolated areas after nightfall for climbers who have lost their way in the dark.
The Air Corps provides back-up for the Irish Coast Guard helicopter and then the Garda helicopter, which are deployed in the first instance in mountain rescue.
With so many mountain rescue incidents, especially during times of severe weather, the Air Corps frequently finds itself pressed into action, as it was three years ago when two missing snowboarders sparked a huge rescue operation on Lugnaquilla mountain in Co Wicklow.
The Air Corps helicopters also have an annual date on Reek Sunday, when dozens of pilgrims, many of whom have serious difficulties in making the climb, find themselves stranded on Croagh Patrick.
The six AW139s are based in Baldonnel Aerodrome. With a cruising speed of 157 knots per hour (290km/h) they can reach even the most isolated parts of the country within an hour.
They can deploy up to 12 rescuers and eight with a stretcher.
On Saturday night, pilots Capt Séamus McNamara and Capt Colin Duffy used the most up-to-date night vision equipment to land the helicopter in the dark.
Though the AW139 has a height of five metres, passengers can be dangerously vulnerable to the rotor blades if the helicopter pitches down at an angle on a mountain.
The mountain rescue crews also trained on the smaller Eurocopter EC135, which can carry a stretcher and two paramedics. It is the same helicopter that is used by the Garda.
Donegal mountain rescuer Séamus Bradley, who took part in Saturday’s event, said such exercises were an important part of their training.
Bradley, who is the chairman of Mountain Rescue Ireland, which co-ordinates activities among all of Ireland’s 12 teams and 350 volunteers, said the Air Corps provided a “very essential back-up service” to rescuers.
“Going back historically, the Air Corps was the primary search and rescue asset for many years.
The Air Corps helicopters are very good at moving a lot of people about, while the Coast Guard helicopter has a very specialised paramedic ambulance service.
The two roles complement each other. The Air Corps is a very professional asset for us,” he said.
During 2010, which was marked by two particularly cold periods, the mountain rescue service had 76 callouts.
Air Corps spokesman Capt Brendan O’Dowd said: “Helicopters can be a hazardous environment and the aim is to make everybody aware of our crew procedures and of the safe way to operate the helicopter in the event that we ever have to work with them.”
