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.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: West
