THE BRITISH Maritime and Coast Guard Agency has paid tribute to the crew of the Irish Coast Guard’s Sligo-based helicopter for the night-time rescue of four young women from an Antrim cliff face at the weekend.
The four were part of a group of six women aged between 16 and 24 who undertook an expedition near Fair Head, Co Antrim, for the Duke of Edinburgh award.
The alarm was raised when the four were reported overdue at 10.30pm. A PSNI helicopter located the other two girls in the group at the top of Benmore Head and flew them to safety.
Belfast Coast Guard sought assistance from Malin Coast Guard of the Sligo-based Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky S-61 helicopter. The other four women were believed to be at the foot of 450ft cliffs, and the location was deemed too hazardous for the Coleraine and Ballycastle coast guard teams.
The Sligo helicopter had to avoid thunderstorms by flying at 4,000ft and descending east of Rathlin Island. The helicopter crew – Capt Martin Wood, co-pilot Steven Yates, winch operator Noel Donnelly and winchman Aiden Thompson – used the spotlight fixed to the aircraft to locate the four women, about 300ft up a 60 degree incline, at the very base of the cliff.
Hovering the aircraft proved extremely dangerous due to down-draught from the cliffs. “The helicopter was pulling about 85 to 95 per cent of its power, and so it was decided to ditch 800lb of fuel to make the aircraft lighter and more stable,” Thompson said.
This left it with a limited amount of fuel to complete the task and fly out again, he said.
Thompson was suspended about 250ft above the casualties by a free air descent, and had to clamber over large boulders, with large concealed drops in between them covered in heather, to reach the group. “All four were in good shape, but very upset,” he said. “The eldest had been very wise in keeping all four together and not moving, once they knew they were in danger.”
The initial plan to guide the women back down the cliff face proved too risky, and Thompson steered them to an outcrop of rock some 20ft from the base of the cliff. “I used the . . . radio to give the pilots enough information to calculate blade clearance from the cliff face,” he said.
The first two women were winched onboard the aircraft from a height of 200ft. However, during the rescue of the second pair, extreme turbulence forced the pilots to implement emergency procedures.
“They had to fly away from the cliff face with me still on the cable – not the safest of experiences either, but there was no choice,” Thompson said.
On the next attempt, the winchman was lowered again. He and the two women were then winched on board. The helicopter then flew to Derry airport. “There was quite a lot of shouts, cheers and tears among the women on board,” Thompson said.
Cross-Border co-operation of Malin Head Coast Guard, Belfast Coast Guard, Coleraine Coast Guard Cliff Rescue Team and the PSNI helicopter based at Aldergrove had been essential to the successful rescue, he said.
Ian Murdock of Belfast Coast Guard said it was “a relief that all six girls were located so quickly”.
