Dutch coastguard helicopters used for search and rescue missions at sea are unsafe and medical protocol is routinely flouted, a confidential report seen by the NRC has concluded.

The investigation, which was carried out by safety experts from KLM, Schiphol and the aviation knowledge centre, found the aircraft are so small there ‘was little room for manoeuvre around patients’, making it almost impossible to even open a bag with medical aids.

Helicopter staff also said they were worried about their own safety on board, as they are not always able to secure themselves during flights.

KLM and Schiphol provided medical staff, equipment and medicines to the service through a joint medical subsidiary but stopped when an incident during a training flight left a member of the medical staff with permanent damage to his ankle.

Infrastructure minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen subsequently ordered an investigation into the working practices of private Flemish helicopter service NHV, which coordinates and executes the rescue missions. That report is expected to be finalised this week.

NHV employs crews from various countries who did not speak ‘sufficient’ English and worked several 24-hour shifts in a row, the report claimed. Medical files and opiates were also left in unlocked cupboards. The investigators questioned whether staff were free to discuss failures internally.

NHV has been in charge of the search and rescue missions, which are an international obligation, since 2015, and even then the company did not comply with all the rules, the NRC said. The contract was to end this July but Van Nieuwenhuizen has already extended it by another two because the tender process for a replacement could not be finished by that time.

D66 MP Jan Paternotte said the findings were ‘shocking and an acute danger to rescues at sea’. He demanded an explanation from the minister saying the potential loss of life warranted ‘more decisive action.’