From the beeb – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11978628
“The UK’s search and rescue helicopter fleet, which is currently run by the RAF and the Royal Navy, plus civilian helicopters through the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will be taken over by a private company.”
I suppose this is because the Sea Kings are rapidly reaching retirement and there are cost cuts to be had. Also the original raison d’etre was to rescue downed airmen which we now have fewer of than ever.
We see the air ambulances on the telly all the time but winch work is clearly the domain of RAF and RN. I suppose the current RAF/RN aircrews will transfer over to whatever the new service might become. As I understand it a lot of the alpine rescue services (obviously winch capable) are private.
Having a dig around a bit more before I hit send it looks like the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has a ‘part-privatised’ SAR capability using S-92 helicopters – see http://www.shephard.co.uk/news/3050/
Once this happens it’ll be insurance or a big bill for sure!