Record helicopter rescue
Seriously ill sailor picked up in 1,650 km operation
Thursday, December 5, 2002
By CP
ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. -- A Cormorant helicopter from 103 Squadron in Gander, Nfld., completed the longest offshore rescue mission in the short operational history of the aircraft in Canada yesterday.
The single-rotor helicopter flew a round trip of about 1,650 km out to sea to rescue a seriously injured crewmember from a Norwegian bulk carrier off the east coast of Newfoundland.
The Cormorant successfully landed the man at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's at about 8 p.m -- nine hours after it left Gander.
"It was one of the longest missions for any helicopter," said Maj. Gilbert Thibault, the pilot who flew the mission.
"We could not have done this if we were still flying Labradors."
The mission began at about 11 a.m. Wednesday when a call was received from the Berge Nord, a Norwegian bulk carrier in high seas about 750 km east of Gander. On board the ship was a man who suffered a head injury and an open leg fracture. Under normal weather conditions a Cormorant can fly about 1,100 km before running out of fuel, which meant the mission had enough fuel to reach the ship but not enough to get back.
So the crew flew 500 km from Gander to the Hibernia offshore oil platform, where the aircraft was refuelled. The Cormorant then travelled north 400 km to the ship and the injured man was hoisted aboard.
"The tricky part was getting back to Hibernia fighting headwinds of 130 kilometres an hour," Thibault said. "Fuel was always the critical issue."
When the aircraft landed at Hibernia the second time late Wednesday afternoon, the tank had enough fuel left for about 30 more minutes of flying, he said.
From
THE TORONTO SUN
Last edited by Heliport; 28th Dec 2002 at 17:56.