iscover
The AW139 it has been replaced by may be faster, can fly further and is NVG capable, but Bell 412 classic VH-NSC will be fondly remembered. paul sadler
Goodbye Charlie
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End of an era for the Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue
Late in the afternoon on April 1 the Canberra-based Snowy Hydro SouthCare Rescue Helicopter Service made its final life-saving flight. The mission, using SouthCare’s blue, white and green Bell 412 ‘classic’ VH-NSC, known affectionately as ‘Charlie’, brought to a close an 18-year career for what was a visual and audible icon in the ACT and southern NSW.
The primary response by the crew of ‘SouthCare 1’ was to a male motorcycle rider who had come off his bike on a dirt trail in the Brindabella Mountains, west of Canberra. Transporting him in a stable condition to The Canberra Hospital, the rescue was a routine one. Yet the mission, the last of more than 8,000 flown by Snowy Hydro SouthCare, officially marked the end of a helicopter rescue service that was passionately supported by the local community to a level some major sporting teams would envy.
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