Thu, Sep 21, 2006
Airliner Circles Overhead To Aid Rescuers
A Cessna now lies at the bottom of
the English Channel. The small plane sank Wednesday... but here's
the good news: the pilot's Mayday call was picked up by a passing
British Airways flight.
The BA crew -- one of whom is a former RAF pilot -- alerted the
appropriate rescue agencies, then circled overhead until rescuers
arrived on the scene.
According to the London Daily Mail, in his mayday call the
Cessna's pilot reported he was low on fuel. He was thought to have
been on his way to England from Germany, but ditched six miles
off-shore.
After getting the word out to everyone, the crew of the British
Airways flight descended to around 3000 ft, giving passengers
onboard the Boeing 737 a spectacular view of the rescue.
An RAF Sea King helicopter from Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk
and Royal Navy lifeboats converged on the downed German pilot,
plucked him from the sea, and whisked him to a hospital in
Ipswitch.
The Sea King's rescue crew says finding the downed pilot was a
lot easier because of the circling airliner -- and a nearby Russian
ship, whose crew had also heard the mayday and was preparing to
launch a life raft.
"All this activity made it much easier for the rescue helicopter
to spot the pilot in the water, and just shows that when a pilot is
in trouble, others will stop to help," said MoD spokesman
Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Green. "We winched down and picked the
pilot up and he was flown to Ipswich Hospital with non
life-threatening injuries."
The airline hasn't identified the pilot of the jet that circled
the scene, but a spokesman says everyone at BA is very proud of the
crew.
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