Cruise ship passengers scared by MPA

[recceguy]

A couple of passengers have been scared (or irritated) by a maritime patrol aircraft doing a couple of low passes from behind, and alongside their cruise ship, somewhere offshore Bermudas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAMYeRqy5DA

pAMYeRqy5DA

They obviously had no idea about anything (probably the first time they were out at sea, by the way) - also reading the various comments from social medias :rolleyes:
Is it necessary to explain on that forum that it's the daily job of those people, who apart from patrolling the high seas for our common defence, also rescue a lot of people lost at sea ? this Falcon 50M of the French Navy is commonly used to spot quickly drifting life rafts or even isolated swimmers away in the ocean, to vector helicopters or other assets towards them. The low passes were done according to the ocean rules.

To the contrary of say the Breguet Atlantic or the P3 Orion, those Falcon 50M (FN) have no camouflage, just a basic white livery.

By the way, this aircraft was not very low :}

[charliegolf]

Cruise ship passengers scared by MPA

Can't blame us then!

[Brian W May]

Good grief . . . what a non-event.

Charliegolf: Droll, very droll . . .

[recceguy]

Yep, no chance it might have been a RAF or RN MPA ....

Thirty years ago, how low we used to fly over those passengers ships on the Mediterranean, or the cargo ships (even lower) or the little sailing yachts (one of my mates cut 20 cm off the tip of a windsurf, for his misery there was witnesses on the beach...)
Warships had to be treated differently if no radio contact - possibility of helicopters operations - and .... remember the RF4C which was shot down by an F14 in 1987 (historic words of the rescued pilot on the deck of the carrier " Weren't we supposed to be on the same side ? " )


Stupid Lieutenant XX, how did you manage to hit this camel ?
Sorry boss, at the very last moment he rose up !

[Surplus]

Take two 'toughen up' pills and call me back tomorrow.

[albatross]

Jeez ...man the Lifeboats .
Much Ado About Nothing.

[Pontius Navigator]

Don't see enough MPA when cruising. Saw a Falcon 50M on SAROPs in the Channel and a USN P3 off Venezuela. Oh, and an Atlantique over a lake in the Central Massif.

[G-ARZG]

It's like folks complaining about police helo' noise !
Doubtless some low-life lawyers are already sharpening their pencils,
looking at Lexus brochures..... 'ZG

[Background Noise]

Bet they would have been happy to see it if they were bobbing about in their lifeboats - or clinging on to the piano.

[Herod]

Just a question. Would the aircraft have been in radio contact with the ship? One would assume something like NATO Common VHF?

[Avtur]

In the Nimrod, we used to "treat" the QE2 to a "run of three" whenever we saw her, and were often complimented on CH16 by the bridge.

[xtypeman]

Sailed out of Nawiliwili on Queen Victoria with two P3 Orions bashing the circuit. Also coming back down the North sea a passenger on Queen Elizabeth sustained a serious head injury and was airlifted off by an RAF Sea King and rushed to Addenbrooke's.

[PrivtPilotRadarTech]

Recceguy's bizarre RF-4 shoot down story is most interesting. The first account I read was accurate, but I couldn't figure out what the heck had happened, this one is more clear. Two words: Tunnel vision.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-04-18/news/8803090693_1_uss-saratoga-rf-4c-phantom-pilot

[tartare]

Even more detail here:
Fighter Pilot University :: USN Downs USAF (http://www.fighterpilotuniversity.com/alumni-house/alumni-news/usn-downs-usaf/)

[Pontius Navigator]

Just a question. Would the aircraft have been in radio contact with the ship? One would assume something like NATO Common VHF?
NATO and aviation VHF use AM on different frequencies from marine band FM VHF.

it was a number of years before the Nimrod Mk 1 was fitted with a marine band radio principally so we could talk to lifeboats.

I would imagine that today French or US would have marine band particularly for anti-drug patrols

[Sandy Parts]

Hopefully it wont soon be "RAF/MoD(Treasury) scared by cost of MPA"....

[Pegasus107]

Thought they were talking about the other MPA, down in Falklands.....

Passengers having visited the place!!

[cattletruck]

During this years Melbourne F1 GP aerial show a RAAF F/A 18 used a departing cruise ship as a turning point for its final run over the straight. I thought it was very cheeky of the pilot to do this, but it did look novel. I only wish I took a picture of it.

[Captivep]

I was on the MS Fram (a fairly small Antarctic expedition cruise ship) just off the Falklands and a Hercules flew past our port side at low level and then turned and flew back past our starboard side.

Cue big smiles and waves from all the passengers on board (especially the Brits)!

[Wageslave]

I have a photo somewhere of an 705Sqn Gazelle buzzing a channel ferry in a manner that must have put the fear of God into any of its unsuspecting and unoffending passengers. Those involved never herd a peep about it afterwards.

Rather like dialling 999 when they hear a sonic boom some people really need to grow a pair, methinks.

[KKoran]

If I had been on that cruise ship, I would have been very upset...if I missed seeing the fly-by.

[ShyTorque]

Having been on a few cruise holidays in the past, I'd have been glad of them relieving my boredom!

[jayteeto]

If people don't understand what is going on, they get nervous. Most members of the public would see "a ********, showing off wazzing with his big toy" or heaven forbid "a terrorist about to carry out the new 9/11 on a cruise ship".
Not everyone sees 'our' world, so cut some slack for a general public seeing terror attacks around the globe.

[Hipper]

Even more detail here:
Fighter Pilot University :: USN Downs USAF (http://www.fighterpilotuniversity.com/alumni-house/alumni-news/usn-downs-usaf/)

That's very interesting thanks.


The last post on that link by MontyVF103 was particularly informative.