Piper Cherokee down off Iceland
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Piper Cherokee down off Iceland
An RAF Nimrod aircraft has joined an international search for the pilot of a light aircraft which ditched in the sea during a storm off Iceland today, Thursday 21 February 2008
The Nimrod was scrambled from its base at RAF Kinloss to search for the pilot who is in a survival suit in freezing conditions 100 miles (161km) south of Iceland.
The Piper Cherokee PA 28 aircraft was routing from the Icelandic capital Rekyjavik to Wick in the North-East of Scotland. The pilot told Iceland Air Traffic he was at 9,000 feet (1.7km) at 1122 hrs. Seventeen minutes later he sent a Mayday message reporting severe icing to the aircraft control surfaces and that he was ditching. He is known to be in a survival suit but it is not clear whether he also has a dinghy.
Iceland Coastguard scrambled a Fokker Friendship fixed-wing aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter. They also requested the RAF Nimrod. Staff at the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Kinloss detected a distress beacon from the scene which confirmed the aircraft was in the water.
An RAF rescue spokesman, said:
The Nimrod was scrambled from its base at RAF Kinloss to search for the pilot who is in a survival suit in freezing conditions 100 miles (161km) south of Iceland.
The Piper Cherokee PA 28 aircraft was routing from the Icelandic capital Rekyjavik to Wick in the North-East of Scotland. The pilot told Iceland Air Traffic he was at 9,000 feet (1.7km) at 1122 hrs. Seventeen minutes later he sent a Mayday message reporting severe icing to the aircraft control surfaces and that he was ditching. He is known to be in a survival suit but it is not clear whether he also has a dinghy.
Iceland Coastguard scrambled a Fokker Friendship fixed-wing aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter. They also requested the RAF Nimrod. Staff at the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Kinloss detected a distress beacon from the scene which confirmed the aircraft was in the water.
An RAF rescue spokesman, said:
"The weather conditions are very bad with heavy thunderstorms and 20 feet [6m] swell. We always try to remain optimistic on these occasions but this is very much a race against time to find the pilot. You have to be realistic as well as hopeful."
He added that the Nimrod crew will rely on both a visual as well as an electronic search. They were expected to stay on scene for up to four hours.
