The Prince Philip Helicopter Rescue Award

For the year 2008/9 the Prince Philip Rescue award was made to:

THE CREW OF RESCUE 193 (771 NAVAL AIR SQUADRON)

At 2352 on 10 November 2008, the crew of the Royal Navy Sea King 'Rescue 193', of 771 Naval Air Squadron, based at RNAS Culdrose, was scrambled by the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) Kinloss at the request of Medico Madrid to aid a fisherman onboard the Spanish fishing vessel 'Pesca Verdes Tres'.  The crew was accompanied by a BBC camerawoman, Erica Hall (now Wilson) who also played a part in the rescue effort.  The vessel was reported to be 150nm south-west of the Isles of Scilly in a westerly gale force eight, with rough seas.  A casualty was reported to have suffered from a severe abdominal injury and his condition assessed as life threatening.  The fishing vessel had turned towards the UK and although steaming at full speed, it would only be at the extreme range of the Sea King at the time of the anticipated rendezvous.

Assessing the likely weather conditions on scene, the crew elected to depart RNAS Culdrose with a full fuel load and re-fuel en-route at St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly in order to gain maximum airborne endurance.  Despite being advised by ARCC Kinloss that a Nimrod aircraft would not be able to launch for a further 1hr 30mins to provide 'top cover' for the long range mission, the aircraft commander, Lt Krueger, elected to launch as planned to minimise any delay in effecting the rescue.

After refuelling at St Mary's, the observer, Lt Hounsome, obtained an updated position of the vessel and crucially noted that it was heading further north of its expected rendezvous.  This was resolved through Falmouth Coastguard and 'Rescue 193' arrived on scene at 0255 in atrocious conditions - gale force seas, inky black night with no references or horizon to help the crew stabilize in the hover.  To make matters worse, the 'Pesca Verdes Tres' was rolling excessively in the deep south-westerly swell which was also causing the vessel to pitch and fall by 45ft in the very gusty and extremely turbulent wind conditions.  Any transfer to the vessel was going to be very challenging, made even more difficult by the lack of deck space and the obstructions that cluttered her deck: a 25 ft high bridge, 25ft high transom at the stern and a plethora of radio aerials that whipped dangerously at the helicopter.

Given the serious nature of the casualty's injuries, the only safe option was to lower the winchman, Chief Petty Officer (CPO) Rigg, onto the deck by use of a hi-line in order for him to give immediate medical treatment to stabilise the casualty's condition and co-ordinate the evacuation by stretcher.  The second pilot, Lt Roskilly, liaised closely with the master of the vessel over the selection of a heading that reduced the degree of deck motion.  Maintaining communications with ARCC Kinloss and the Nimrod aircraft which arrived on scene to provide 'top cover', he continued to provide vital feedback on aircraft performance and endurance to the remainder of the crew.  Utilising a mixture of white light and Night Vision Goggles, his commentary on the approaching wave-sets, swell and the likely motion of the vessel was vital in allowing the crew to seize the fleeting lulls in deck motion and conduct the transfers.

Lt Hounsome directed the aircraft into a high hover in order to maintain aircraft safety and successfully passed a hi-line to the vessel's crew.  Lowering CPO Rigg to a suitable height above the sea, Lt Hounsome provided a calm commentary translating CPO Rigg's hand signals into clear manoeuvring orders to the pilots.  For a period of 10-15 minutes CPO Rigg remained suspended on the winch wire, composed and selfless, whilst being battered by the elements as they waited for the opportune moment to move over the vessel.  At one point during this transfer, the aircraft and the vessel started to part company due to the violent, unpredictable sea.  The hi-line parted and CPO Rigg was recovered back into the aircraft in order to re-assess the situation.  Realising that the hi-line procedure was unlikely, a small area above the well deck on the rear port quarter of the vessel was selected for a conventional transfer.  Despite the considerable hazard of impacting the transom, its rigging or the rear of the heaving vessel, the crew elected to attempt the transfer.  Once again the aircraft stood off the vessel for 10-15 minutes with CPO Rigg suspended 60-70 feet below until a very short lull in deck movement.  CPO Rigg was deposited firmly on deck and he rapidly detached from the winch wire and set to work on the casualty below.  The motion of the vessel, coupled with limited and at times no hover references, was such that the transfers took all of the crew's skill and experience.

The casualty had been critically injured by a cable that had parted and almost severed his upper and lower torso, a condition far more serious than the crew of 'Rescue 193' had been informed of.  CPO Rigg, a paramedic trained aircrewman, did as much as he could to stabilise the man before returning to the upper deck to take charge of the vessel's crew.    Three further successful hi-line transfers were conducted to pass the stretcher to the vessel, recover the stretcher and casualty, and to recover CPO Rigg to the aircraft.  In total, it had taken 1 hr 11 mins to conduct these transfers.  Conventional SAR planning allows for 30 mins on scene so the decision to re-fuel on the Isles of Scilly was a key component to the recovery of the casualty.  Throughout the transfers Lt Krueger demonstrated a high degree of handling skill, captaincy and spatial awareness in minimising the hazards to the aircraft and crew.  Despite spending over an hour in physically exhausting conditions, followed by a wild recovery to the aircraft, CPO Rigg continued to administer emergency care assisted by Lt Hounsome, successfully resuscitating the casualty on five separate occasions.  Sadly, the casualty died from his severe injuries before 'Rescue 193' reached the Royal Cornwall Hospital.  The aircraft recovered to RNAS Culdrose at 0534 by which time the crew had been on duty for nearly 20 hours.

Gale Force winds, extremely rough seas, the initial lack of Nimrod 'top cover' whilst operating at the edge of the Sea King's range on a very dark night, all added to the pressures faced by the crew.  Although the casualty succumbed to his severe injuries, the crew found solace and consolation in the knowledge that they had performed to the best of their abilities and at the extremities of the aircraft's operating capabilities.  For their outstanding courage and devotion to duty throughout this long and arduous rescue mission, for which CPO Rigg has been awarded the QGM, the entire crew of 'Rescue 193' is awarded the Prince Phillip Helicopter Rescue Award.

Previous Winners:

1978

Captain G Bain, Captain C C Bosanquet
Captain A Campbell, B Johnstone Esq

1979

Flt Lt R E Neville, Flt Lt M J Lakey
Flt Sgt J K Moody, Flt Sgt C M Yarwood

1980

Master Air Loadmaster David Edward Bullock GC (posthumously)

1981

Lt Cdr H S Clark 825 Squadron

1982

Wessex MK3 of HMS Antrim Flight
Captain Lieutenant Commander I Stanley DSO
Lt C J Parry Sub Lt S Cooper, PO Aircrewman D B Fitzgerald

1983

PO Aircrewman John Stephen Coleman

1984

Joint Award to 826 N.A.S (Sea King) and HMS Endurance (WASP)

1985

Crew Award: Lt D Marr, POACMN M C Palmer, POACMN L Slater

1986

WO1 I D Johnstone AAC & Sgt D I Lewis REME

1987

Jeff Todd Esq

1988

Flight Sergeant Vaughan Dodsworth AFM RAF

1989

PO Aircrewman S W Wright, PO Aircrewman D S Wallace

1990

Flt Lt D Kerr-Sheppard RAF, Flt Lt D G Gow RAF
MAEOP M R Cornes, MALM W Payne

1991

Not Awarded

1992

772 Naval Air Squadron Helicopter: Lt M I P Langley, POACM A Rogers, LACMN B Buggins

1993

Flt Sgt Chris J Wood

1994

The Crew of Rescue 169: Flt Lt A Cooper, Flt Lt M Dennis, Flt Lt G Holmes, Flt Sgt. P Trethewey

1995

Rescue 25, 78 Squadron, Falkland Islands: Flt Lt M Dennis, Flt Lt T Gear, Flt Sgt. S Larke, Sgt S Labouchardiere

1996

Rescue 193 from RNAS CULDROSE:Lt B J Nicholas, Lt J M Collicutt, Lt G P Norris, POACM P J Warrington, LACM R W McKee

1997

Posthumously for William (Bill) Deacon

1997

A special award to: Crews 03, 06 and 10 of Sea Flight 810 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Station, Culdrose

1998

The Crew of the Bell 412 Helicopter VH-CFT of Careflight (Dan Tyler, Graeme Fromberg, Murray Traynor)

1999

The helicopter pilots and crew of the South African Air Force

2000

Crew of HMS Montrose: Lt Cdr Thomas J Joyce RN, Lt Daniel Clarke RN
Air Engineering Mechanic Daniel P Ruszczyk)
Flight Sergeant Trevor Thompson AFC

2001

Crew of the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter: Peter Yates, Dr Michael Novy, Tim Thistleton, Matthew Scott, Paul Featherstone

2002

'Rescue 137' D Flight No 202 Squadron, RAF Lossiemouth

2003

Rescue 193 RN

2004

Rescue 193 (Boscastle)

2005

Rescue 193 of 771 Naval Air Squadron

2006

Crew of 'Rescue 901' 442 Squadron CAF
Hong Kong Government Flying Service

2007

HMS GANNET SAR FLIGHT 'Rescue 177'
RAF CHINOOK 'BLACKOUT 26'

2008

Crew of "Rescue 193" of 771 Naval Air Squadron