NAVY N S, NAVY NEW


VY NEWS, MARCH 2011


7


but it is still the busiest. No Search and Rescue unit in the UK – civilian or military – was called out more times in 2010 than HMS Gannet, the fourth year in a row that the Prestwick- based Fleet Air Arm unit was the busiest in the land. Last year actually saw a drop in scrambles for its Sea Kings – the helicopters received 379 call-outs, down 68 on 2009. But Gannet – which provides emergency


cover across an area of 98,000 square miles (12 times the size of Wales...) spanning Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Lake District – was still the most in-demand SAR centre, accounting for one fi fth of all the rescues carried out by the eight RAF/RN units dedicated to Search and Rescue. In all 324 people were saved/ assisted by Gannet crews in 2010: 145 of the helicopters’ missions last year were medical rescues, a further 80 were medical transfers.


ed t


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fi gures refl ect the nature of the vast – and sometimes harsh – area covered by Gannet,” said CO Lt Cdr Debdash Bhattacharya.


Cd a “Once again these high dr


women who make up not only our aircrew, but also our ground staff – military and civilian – who work tirelessly to ensure that we’re ready to fl y at a moment’s notice to save lives.”


year were: Among Gannet’s notable missions last


■ 2011 for Gannet has begun in the same vein... busy. No sortie was more surprising than the rescue of 36-year-old climber Adam Potter.


■ a climber rescued from Ben Lomond; her fellow climber carved a six-foot-high SOS in the snow and drew a huge arrow to help the fl iers fi nd her; ■ premature twins fl own from Stornaway to Glasgow for expert medical care in an eight-hour sortie; ■ two divers plucked out of strong currents near the Mull of Galloway – despite thick rolling fog.; ■ four walkers rescued in the Lake District on the same day having been struck by lightning.


“I’m extremely proud of the men and h


THE busiest didn’t get busier –


The Sea King crew expected to fi nd the Glaswegian mountaineer’s body – or at the very least a severely- injured man – after responding to a distress call about a climber who’d fallen from the 3,589ft summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor, around fi ve miles east of Ben Nevis.


When the helicopter reached the scene – just 30 minutes after receiving the call – they found the peak partially obscured by low cloud, but they found Mr Potter’s fellow climbers, who pointed in the direction that he fell.


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“We began to hover taxi down the slope and spotted a man at the bottom, standing up,” said observer Lt Tim Barker.


im p s h


“We honestly thought it couldn’t have been him, as he was on his feet reading a map. It seemed impossible. So we retraced our path back up the mountain and, sure enough, there were bits of his kit in a vertical line all the way up where he had obviously lost them during the fall.


lost “It


“It was quite incredible. He must have literally glanced off the outcrops asli


he fell, almost fl ying.” Paramedic PO Taff Ashman was winched


down. He found that apart from some superfi cial cuts and bruises and a minor chest injury, the climber was relatively unscathed. “He was shaking from extreme emotional shock and the sheer relief at still being alive,” Lt Barker added. “We checked the height while we were in the hover and we were at pretty much bang on 2,600ft, making his fall 1,000ft from the summit.” Mr Potter was winched into the Sea King and taken to Glasgow Southern General Hospital where medics discovered that apart from cuts and bruises, the climber had broken his back in three places, though without damage to the spinal chord, so he could still walk about with ease. “He is lucky to be alive,” Lt Barker continued.


“It’s hard to believe that


someone could have fallen that distance on that terrain and been able to stand up at the end of it, let alone chat to us in the helicopter on the way to the hospital.” Picture: CPO(Phot) Tam McDonald, FRPU North


Still the star SAR HERE’S JUST ONE OF THE THINGS WE DO...


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