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4 hours of continuous tasking in storm force conditions, involving 5 separate taskings and the rescue of 11 people, demonstrated the highest standards of judgement, professionalism and crew co-operation, combined with outstanding flexibility and determination.
On the night of Thursday 29th July 2021, Storm Evert was battering the south-west coast of England. At 2224, Rescue 924, a Bristow search and rescue helicopter based at Newquay airport, was scrambled to provide assistance to the first of a series of emergencies involving yachts which were at risk of being blown aground.
Over the course of the next 4 hours the crew received continuous tasking to support 5 separate incidents at remote locations across the Scilly Isles. Battling extremely demanding conditions, including winds over 50 kts and degraded visibility due to a low cloud base and sea spray, they made best use of their collective skills, as well the on-board radar and Forward Looking Infrared, to locate 6 individual vessels in distress. 3 of these were at risk of going aground and 3 had already floundered. Consistently under pressure throughout the period they used outstanding judgement and exceptional crew co-operation to assess and prioritise their tasking, whilst effecting multiple demanding rescues.
This included exceptional airmanship to rapidly extract the crew of a yacht which was listing at 45° having previously run aground on rocks. The 5 crew were clinging to the guard rail and being deluged by large waves which were rolling over the vessel. Despite the difficult conditions, the crew expertly completed a textbook rescue via a series of 2 and 3 man lifts, before transporting the traumatised casualties to St Mary’s airport. Further outstanding crew co-operation and airmanship was required to support a yacht which was aground and taking on water, with the crew in significant danger and attempting to board an under inflated life-raft. Recognising the need for immediate action, Rescue 924 skilfully avoided the significant hazard posed the yacht’s mast and rigging and rapidly completed another difficult 3-man lift, before recovering the casualties to Tresco Heliport.
In summary, during just over 4 hours of rapidly evolving tasking the crew of Rescue 924 operated at the highest levels of intensity while remaining cognisant of the risks posed by the severe weather conditions. Throughout this challenging series of rescues, the crew demonstrated outstanding airmanship, professionalism, crew co-operation and resilience. As such the crew of Rescue 924 has been selected as the 2022 recipient of the Edward and Maisie Lewis Award.
