Air Force Station Port Elizabeth is a
South African Air Force
"Through hardships to the stars"
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, equipment ...
facility situated on the north-eastern side of the
Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport main runway. It was downgraded from an Air Force Base in the early 1990s.
It is home to C Flight of
15 Squadron which currently operates four
BK 117 helicopters. Their primary role is maritime and landward
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
. Conversion to
AgustaWestland AW109
The AgustaWestland AW109, originally the Agusta A109, is a lightweight, twin-engine, eight-seat multi-purpose helicopter designed and initially produced by the Italian rotorcraft manufacturer Agusta. It was the first all-Italian helicopter to ...
helicopters has been postponed due to delays in developing emergency flotation equipment for the type, thus precluding its use in a maritime environment.
Units hosted
*C Flight of 15 Squadron
*
108 Squadron - Territorial Reserve Squadron operating various civil light aircraft in the utility transport role.
See also
*
Port Elizabeth branch of the SAAF Museum - another SAAF facility located at the airport
References
South African Air Force bases
Transport in Port Elizabeth
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