771 Naval Air Squadron work busiest week of their year

Fleet Air Arm crews have worked around the clock to tackle emergencies in the south west of England.

The Culdrose-based Search and Rescue (SAR) crews of 771 Naval Air Squadron had their busiest week so far this year - and the summer tempo of operations is set to continue.

In a seven day period until last Wednesday duty crews flew 15 missions around Cornwall and delivered an injured child to hospital in Bristol.

They also worked through urgent repairs in Bristol before returning to work from their Cornish base.

On Wednesday 20 July the duty crew of Rescue 193, pilots Lieutenant Commander Nigel Terry and Flight Lieutenant Jon Owen (RAF), Observer and Aircraft Commander Lieutenant Commander Rob Suckling and Winchman/Paramedic Chief Petty Officer Aircrewman Dave Rigg began their duties and were called to two jobs at Mawnan and Newquay.

The following day the next duty crew of pilots Capt Martyn Roskilly (Royal Marines) and Lieutenant Paul White, Observer and Aircraft Commander Lieutenant Commander Simon Daw and Winchman/Paramedic Petty Officer Aircrewman Taff Ashman began their set of duties and were called to Lands End.

During the next seven days the two crews attended 15 call-outs including the transfer of the severely injured child to Frenchay hospital in Bristol.

On Sunday 24 July the crew had four call outs, two to Plymouth, one at Falmouth and then another transfer to Bristol.

Having handed over the patient at Bristol, one of the aircraft’s engines failed to start and the crew had to remain there overnight until an engineering team led by Chief Petty Officer Andrew Driver arrived from Culdrose to conduct a repair. 

The 24-hour red and grey Cornish helicopters are supported by a team at Culdrose who are permanently on call. The six-man team repaired the engine and the aircraft recovered safely back to Culdrose.

“This was a very challenging task due to the distance from Culdrose. The fact that the aircraft was sitting on the helipad at Frenchay Hospital added pressure to get it fixed and back to base.”

said CPO Driver.

During the week there were some major personal milestones for the crews involved:  Lieutenant Commander Nigel Terry achieved 3,000 flying hours; Chief Petty Officer Dave Rigg completed his 400th rescue and Lt Cdr Rob “Smoke” Suckling completed his 100th rescue.

The Squadron’s Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Chris Canning said:

“This week has seen a significant rise in the number of callouts signifying the start of the seasonal summer increase. "

"It has also highlighted the excellent united effort required from both my engineering team and the support teams from Culdrose to ensure that we are able to provide the immediate response of aircraft and crews to wherever an incident occurs.”