Frozen jungle
● Members of 6 Troop, the Royal Marines
Signals Detachment demonstrating the use of
snow shoes and poles at Clockwork in Bardufoss, Norway
O
NCE AGAIN the ice and snow of entire landscape blanketed by heavy snow.
Norway have lured the fliers of the
Lt Cdr Doubleday said: “Everything was simply
Commando Helicopter Force north
white.”
into the Arctic Circle to perfect their skills
After much effort, the crew spotted a dark
in mountain flying in extreme conditions
object on the valley floor, which once they got
closer became clear was a small helicopter.
against mercurial weather and sudden
The Squirrel helicopter was badly damaged,
white-outs.
with three of its rotor blades missing and its tail
Clockwork now bears the epithet Joint Helicopter
boom mangled, and scattered debris surrounding
Command as the cold-weather flying experts of
it.
the CHF are called upon to spread their expertise
Despite the risks of the extreme weather and
among the other branches and Services.
the uneven ground, the decision was taken to land
This year’s venture north to Bardufoss saw the
the Sea King and its accompanying Bell helicopter
Jungly Sea King 4s of Yeovilton joined by Search
close to the downed aircraft.
and Rescue Sea King 5s from RNAS Culdrose,
The Bell helicopter had two medics and three
RAF Chinooks from 27 Sqn and 7 Sqn, and Army
policemen on board. Once they got close, they
Lynx from 657 Sqn.
could see that the pilot had been killed in the
It was Lt Cdr Steve Doubleday who was at the
crash, but there were a number of footprints
helm of this year’s training which saw some 450
around the crash site which indicated a possible
personnel from all three Services visit Bardufoss
survivor.
for some training in the CHF specialism.
This information was swiftly passed on to the
Although the officer’s experiences of Bardufoss
other aircraft searching in the area.
were slightly more dramatic than expected when
Reports came back to the Sea King crew that a
he was called in to the site of a crashed aircraft.
man had been spotted running out of a log-cabin
The Sea King Qualified Helicopter Instructor
on the banks of the frozen lake – this turned out
said: “We were about to conduct a snow-landing
to be the missing passenger from the crashed
sortie around Bardufoss.
helicopter.
“We were just about to man the aircraft when
As the storm flared into a white wall of horizontal
we had a shout that a civilian had gone down. We
snow, Lt Cdr Doubleday and his crew stayed with
were asked if we were prepared to look for it.
the wreckage, waiting for the police to complete
“We immediately had a crew huddle, assessed
their duties and the weather to clear before flying
the options, and quickly confirmed that we would
the body of the pilot back to the Norwegian base
assist.”
at Bardufoss.
The Navy Sea King was the first aircraft to get
He said: “My crew demonstrated their
airborne and start the search.
considerable ability and skill in a tremendously
The Naval officer was asked by the Norwegian
hazardous environment.
authorities if he would act as On Scene Commander
“I am extremely proud of them. My only regret is
for the search of the area, which by its end pulled
that we could not help the pilot.”
in seven different aircraft seeking the lost helo.
Despite the gruelling sortie, the officer speaks
He said: “It was really punk weather. Some
highly of the Bardufoss experience amid the
of the most demanding weather I’ve flown in.
challenging Arctic conditions.
There was low visibility, heavy snow, and we
Lt Cdr Doubleday said: “In 20 years this was my
were searching above the tree-line with no visual
best detachment ever. I loved it.
references.”
“It was the mixture of the environment, the
The track of the missing aircraft led the crew up
challenging flying, the chance to have a beer with
a major valley and over a large frozen lake into an
your workmates where you’re not being mortared,
area which is not normally used by CHF, with the
and the opportunity to do a bit of skiing.”
● A Commando Helicopter Force
Jungly Sea King runs through landing drills on the thick snow of Norway
● An RAF Chinook conducts ‘touch and go’ landings
Pictures: LA(Phot) Dave Jenkins
020_NN_apr09.indd 1 20/3/09 14:36:19
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