South Korea’s Coast Guard service is set to take delivery of its second Sikorsky S-92 helicopter. The aircraft is on display at the Heli-Expo show in Dallas, and on Wednesday the manufacturer honored the Korean flight crew with its Winged-S Rescue Award for lifesaving achievement and search and rescue response.
On February 27 the Coast Guard’s first S-92 rescued a worker from a fishing boat who was severely injured with a head trauma in a crane accident five miles off the Korean coast. Two security patrol boats, a marine rescue team and the helicopter were dispatched. The rescuers quickly decided that the patient should be hoisted onto the S-92 and rushed to the hospital, where he is now recovering.
The South Korean Coast Guard has operated the S-76 since March 2014 and has now logged more than 850 flight hours. The aircraft has been used to rescue other fishermen, as well as the survivors from the capsized MV Sewol ferry. In the latter incident in April 2014 the aircraft flew 220 missions.