Navy team saves snowbound walkers

Shortly before 1600hrs on Sunday 8 February 2009, having received a call from Strathclyde Police, the team rushed to the aid of a stricken female climber on The Cobbler, a mountain just outside the village of Arrochar at the head of Loch Long.

On duty were the unit's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Bryan Nicholas, and Lieutenant Commander Stuart Pike (both pilots), observer Lieutenant Tim Barker, and aircrewman Petty Officer Marcus 'Wiggy' Wigfull.

Around 400ft (120m) from the summit, the woman had lost her footing and fallen more than 100ft (30m).

The Gannet crew attended and quickly located the injured climber, but due to technical reasons and with heavy snow closing, the pilots were unable to bring the Sea King helicopter to hover at the scene.

Concerned for her safety and injuries, the Royal Navy team swooped down the mountain to pick up members of the Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team (MRT), delivering them close to the hurt woman. The MRT was then able to stabilise her and carry her off the mountain to a waiting ambulance.

Coincidentally, an off-duty Royal Navy photographer from Faslane captured the moment that the Gannet-based helicopter arrived on the scene, and his friend, an off-duty RN medic, although further up the mountain, was able to offer verbal advice to the casualty and two people who had gone to her assistance.

With poor visibility, the helicopter was then grounded at Arrochar while darkness closed in, but a brief clearing in the weather later allowed the crew to get airborne. Although by that stage the aircraft was fuel-critical, the crew had just enough time to react to an emergency call to two climbers on the east side of Ben Lomond at 2345hrs before routing to Glasgow Airport to refuel.

Alerted by Stirling Police, the team rushed the short distance to the mountain in search of two men in their mid-30s.

One of the men had lost his glasses on the Ben and, as a result, was only able to make very slow progress down the mountain as he was essentially unable to see.

Despite being experienced, well-equipped and starting to head down in daylight, the duo's descent was so slow that they had felt it necessary to raise the alarm. Twenty-three members of Lomond Mountain Rescue were already on the mountain in an effort to find the men in the pitch dark.

The crew had been able to speak to the men by mobile, which helped refine their position, and the men were told to flash a torch which would help in the search. Using night vision goggles, the helicopter's crew located the flashing torchlight and winched the climbers to safety before delivering them to the rendezvous point at Rowardennan, on the east shore of Loch Lomond.

The fallen female climber on The Cobbler was believed to have a broken shoulder and minor head injuries. The two men on Ben Lomond escaped without injury, though were slightly shaken and very cold:

"Conditions really were quite testing for both of these rescues," explained Lt Cdr Nicholas. "Not being able to hover at The Cobbler was very frustrating as we would have been able to get the injured woman off the mountain a lot quicker that way.

"And searching in the dark is always tricky. Luckily, though, we were able to track the men down quite quickly, which, in the plummeting temperatures, was what it was all about - you really don't want to be stuck on the mountain in those kind of conditions overnight.

"But they had got a torch with them and they were able to use that to allow us to see them more easily and, therefore, quickly.

"So it was a job well done by all those involved, including both the mountain rescue teams we were working with."

The crew was away from the Ayrshire air station for more than 10 hours in total, returning to base at 0200hrs.

On Monday evening, the crew was called to Lochgoilhead in Argyll to medically transfer a 30-year-old man who had sustained back injuries while sledging.

Although an ambulance had attended, the cold temperatures had led to icy conditions on the roads and HMS Gannet was called in to carry out an airborne evacuation.

Later on Monday, the team was called to medically evacuate a woman suffering from pneumonia from Oban to the Western Infirmary in Glasgow.