Dramatic rescue acted out at Hunstanton
A DRAMATIC rescue at sea was acted out when the three main lifesaving elements worked together off the coast at Hunstanton.
Help from the air, in the shape of an RAF Sea King helicopter, was joined by the Hunstanton lifeboat DJS Haverhill and the RNLI hovercraft, the Hunstanton Flyer.
The simulated sea rescue put the hovercraft to the test, dealing with the massive downdraught generated by a hovering helicopter.
And it passed with flying colours.
Lifeboat operations manager Mr Robin Rafferty explained: "The helicopter crew wanted to see how the hovercraft would cope with the 90 miles per hour downdraught from the rotors. It wasn't as stable as the boat, but it didn't do too bad at all.
"We train twice a fortnight and we try to train with the helicopter once a year, or whenever we can. It was a very worthwhile exercise for both crews."
The Sea King search-and-rescue helicopter crew came RAF Wattisham, in Suffolk, for the special training session.
Email to a friend
Print this page Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Local pages
Looking for a...
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Kings Lynn
Monday 06 September 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
