News

Pave Hawks called in on UK SAR mission

December 11, 2008

A pair of United States Air Force HH-60 Pave Hawks have rescued a Burmese sailor from a container ship off Ireland.

The two helicopters, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk were launched along with an MC-130 Hercules tanker aircraft to fly out to the vessel, the 28,000 tonne Anna Rickmers to rescue the crewman 200 miles from the Southern coast of Ireland.

The rescue follows satellite call from the ship to Falmouth Coastguard which requested medical advice. The Master of the vessel was tele-connected by Falmouth Coastguard to the duty doctor at Queen Alexandria Hospital, Portsmouth and appropriate medical advice was given to help stabilize the injured crewman who had fallen into the cargo hold and received spinal and cranial injuries.

At the time of the call, the ship was some 600 miles to the south of Ireland, so the Master was requested to steer a course to a position that will place them 200 nautical miles from the Irish coast, allowing the long-range rescue attempt to take place.

Also supporting the rescue was a USAF KC-135 tanker to refuel the Hercules and an RAF Nimrod which provided top cover.

The sailor was winched into a helicopter and flown to Shannon in Ireland, where he arrived at around 10.30pm on Wednesday, 10 December. He was taken by ambulance to hospital in Limerick for treatment.

The Pave Hawks flew to Shannon Airport, while the MC-130 returned to its base at RAF Mildenhall after some 12 hours in the air.