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The Farewell of a Belgian Icon; Koksijde, March 21, 2019

Koksijde Rescue; Sea-King Farewell; Text and Photograph's by Alex van Noye

The iconic Westland Sea King of the Belgian Air Force made for the very last time ever a landing at Koksijde Air Base in western Belgium on Thursday, March 21, 2019. After 42 years of operational service, the helicopter makes way for the new NH90 Caiman, which fully takes over the “Search & Rescue” (SAR) tasks.

After more than 42 years of operational service, the Sea-King was finally retired from service. Ceremonies would be held throughout the day to symbolize the end of the Sea-King. The helicopters have together made over 60,000 flying hours in the service of the Belgian Air Force at the 40 Squadron at Koksijde. Over the years the Sea-Kings came into action during 3309 rescue operations. A total of no less than 1,757 people were saved with these characteristic helicopters. Most rescue operations took place on the Belgian coast, such as the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987. However, the Sea-King also contributed to major disasters in the inlands such as the fire at the Switel hotel in 1994 in Antwerp, the gas explosion in 2004 in Gellingen. Eventually, they even provided support during the terrorist attacks in Zaventem and Brussels more than three years ago. The Sea-Kings have become a well-known image over the years because the helicopters became famous due to the film Storm Force 10. There are currently around 30 crew members who can be deployed with the Sea-King. Only ten people are being trained to man the new NH90, which will take over the duties of the Sea-King from Thursday March 21, 2019. Ten other crew members will retire after saying goodbye to the Sea-King. The other ten crew members are offered an outplacement process to work elsewhere.

The day of the ceremonies would start early, because in the morning the last still flying Sea-King, the RS05, would visit all Belgian coastal municipalities. The helicopter would make a landing on every beach to say goodbye to the population of these villages and towns. At each location the crew would meet the mayor of the place where they would hit a memorial flag together with goodbye texts for the Sea-King. The first landing took place early in the morning in the municipality of Knokke in the north of Belgium. Towards the end of the morning the Sea-King reached the last location in the Panne. At this southernmost location the helicopter picked up the mayor of Koksijde. He was

lowered with the winch on the beach of Koksijde. This location was the last of the Sea-King beach tour. After the last landing, the helicopters returned to Koksijde Air Base. A formation flight was organized for the afternoon program. Specially for this flight, Sea-King helicopters from Germany and Norway were also transferred to Koksijde. At the beginning of the afternoon, a formation of five helicopters took off to make a final formation flight over West Flanders. The formation flew to Diksmuide and then back to Koksijde. A final rescue simulation was carried out at the home base before the RS05 started the landing under loud applause. The helicopter received an honor shower from the fire department. The helicopter taxied under the water arch to the platform. After the landing of this last formation flight, it was officially; the Sea-King was retired from duty. Belgium had said goodbye to one of the greatest icons ever in Belgian aviation history.

Now that the Sea-Kings have been phased out in the Belgian Air Force, it is not yet clear what the fate of all helicopters will be. The RS01 has been placed in the Royal Army Museum in Brussels since 2008. This helicopter went out of service for more than 10 years ago. On March 20, 2019, the second Sea-King was sold. For the symbolic amount of only 1 Euro, the helicopter was sold by the Belgian defense to the municipality of Koksijde. On February 7, 2019, a "Third Party Transfer Authorization" was provided for this transaction from the relevant British government agencies. These papers are needed to sell old army material to a third party. All conditions have been met for the formal transfer of Sea-King RS03. It has not been officially announced yet, but the stories are that the helicopter is being placed as a monument on the Boulevard on the beach of Koksijde. The real last flight of the Sea-King RS05 did not take place on March 21, 2019. The helicopter was moved for the very last time from Koksijde Air Base to the airport of Ostend on March 26, 2019. The Sea-King with registration RS05 will serve as study material for the training of aircraft techniques in the VLOC (Flemish Aviation Training Center) at the airport of Ostend. The RS05 is placed next to the Alouette II of the Rijkswacht (National Guard), which had previously been donated to the training center. The other two helicopters with registrations RS02 and RS04 are currently for sale. Where they are going is not yet clear at the moment.

Shortly after saying goodbye to the Sea-King, it was also announced at Koksijde that a lot will change in the future. The NH90 helicopters from the 40 Squadron at Koksijde will be moving to Ostend in the future. The relocation of these four rescue helicopters must be completed by 2023. Koksijde is an old airbase which has an outdated and fairly dispersed infrastructure. The terrain is very large for an airbase that only houses a small squadron. There is often a lack of operational support staff at Koksijde, such as air traffic control and the fire brigade. These problems cannot be addressed with just a renewal of the infrastructure. Relocation of the NH90s and Alouette III helicopters to Ostend offers many advantages for the Ministry of Defense. The operational support will be fully implemented by the airport of Ostend. With the closure of Koksijde, the current workforce can be reduced from 331 to 123 employees. In the coming years, a partner will first have to be found who will have to realize the necessary infrastructure on Ostend. This means that the organisation have to walk the right permit process and that the facilities for the helicopters must be built. The transfer of the helicopters from Koksijde to Ostend must then be realized by the end of 2023. It is important for the west of Flanders that the military rescue helicopters remain based in this part of the country. After a long history, Koksijde will close with the disappearance of the Sea-Kings. The future of the site is as yet unknown.




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