Beyond the call of duty

[G-CPTN]

We come to expect that SAR and Coastguard helo pilots will perform skillful acts, but here we have a Police pilot effecting a rescue when the RNLI were unable to reach the casualties. I say well done! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6521711.stm

Three teenage girls were rescued by helicopter after becoming trapped on rocks off the Sunderland coast.
A Northumbria Police helicopter and the RNLI inshore lifeboat from Sunderland were scrambled to Salterfern Rock, near Grangetown, on Monday afternoon.
Ian Rowan, helmsman onboard the RNLI inshore lifeboat, said: "We successfully manoeuvred the inshore lifeboat close enough to evacuate the girls, but the breaking surf swamped the boat.
"It was agreed that the safest method to evacuate the girls was by airlifting, but due to space restrictions the helicopter was forced to transfer the girls one by one to the hilltop.
"The pilot showed great skill and judgement by landing his craft on a small rock on three separate occasions."

[bell222]

here here well done neasu

[What Limits]

So where were the SAR / Coastguard helicopters?

This is not a snipe, but a genuine question.

[Hoveronly]

Have a Gold star!

Of course, had it all gone wrong he would no doubt have been chastised! Great job boys, it was of course a team effort!

[Big-Windy]

Fantastic! And, I'm sure, (as all NEASU crews are trained to do) carried out after full consideration of all the risks and alternatives together with the consultation and approval of the "CAA agreed pax". Well done all.

[Tonka Toy]

nearest CG assets are solent, the western or northern isles, perhaps you were thinking Boulmer and the RAF.

[[email protected]]

.....Who may have been on a job already or possibly u/s or maybe just weren't called - if the coastguard had tasked the lifeboat and assumed they would do the job, why call the SAR aircraft? The situation was hardly life threatening since the police helo was able to land next to them and pick them off. Still a good bit of flying though.

[viking25]

Did the police helicopter pilot consider the risks involved in the operation he undertook. My question is how immediate was the threat to life. If the inshore lifeboat could not get into the location because of the swell, the Coastguard rescue team had been called out and were on the way. They would have been able to initate a recovery by cliff team, without placing anyone at risk.

Surely if the threat to life was not immediate, the helicopter could have let the Coastguard rescue team deal with it, instead of taking the risks they did.

[The Nr Fairy]

We know nothing other than what's in the BBC report - unless you know something we don't, viking. Do we know the CG team were on the way, and if so an ETA ?

I'm happy to make the assumption that an experienced (possibly ex-mil) pilot did some CRM with his crew, assessed the risks involved, thought it viable, and carried out a short series of lifts to reduce the girls' exposure to wind and spray and thus potentially hypothermia.

[Helinut]

It appears to be a job well done, and a sensible use of resources to me.
From what you can glean from the report, there was nothing especially hazardous about the way the task was conducted. The aircraft is fully capable of a Class 1/Group A Profile. The point of twin engine helicopters is to allow them to operate over hostile terrain and be able to cope with a single engine failure.

Even if you accept the CAA insertion into the PAOM about not operating in the low hover above water is reasonable (which I do not, but lets not go there), this does not appear to be one of those cases anyway.

So where is the potential problem, and the risk to life of the crew or aircraft from doing what they did, Viking?

[MINself]

Viking, I'm sure the police helicopter crew assesed the risk as with any task! and decided to assist rather than stand by and watch as the girls situation deteriorated! As stated SAR might well have been tied up elsewhere or even those present decided the situation didn't warrant their activation because the assets already on scene were capable of dealing with the situation without tieing up one of the few SAR assets.
Well done the Police ASU crew for assisting those in need without any "willy waving"!
MS

[aeromys]

Nice picture of them landing on the rock on the BBC website too, well done lads.

Just teasing - why didn't front bobby get out and comfort one of the girls so they could take two girls on the first lift, and do the job in two lifts?

[ShyTorque]

Well done to the pilot and his crew.

A cliff rescue 'without placing anyone at risk'?

I think not - pulling three scared and tired people up a cliff most definitely incurs risk, both to the rescue team and to the survivors.

The police helicopter was the best means to do the job, it was available to do the job, it was done safely and that's it.

Why, in UK, do we have this public hand wringing and neck stretching every time a helicopter is used for what it was best designed for, for goodness' sake?

We used to use helicopters to deliver passengers in a similar manner to this - one wheel landings on a rock, et al.

[John Eacott]

ISTM the crew did what they should, and all credit to them. Risk is always a factor, and ShyTorque seems to have summed up well

Why, in UK, do we have this public hand wringing, etc

On the other hand, one of the helicopters lost by the NSW Police was a very nice Squirrel which did much the same with a rock landing off Sydney Heads a few years ago to pick up a stranded individual. Very ugly scene, however, when the tail rotor was goffered by a wave