Royal Navy winchman rescues remote-control plane stuck on top of chimney after top brass rule it’s perfect for training
A ROYAL Navy chopper winchman rescued a remote control plane which crash landed on top of a chimney - after top brass declared the mission the perfect training sortie.
The Merlin chopper and it’s rescue crew got an SOS plea for help after bungling Roger Bath managed to plant his plane on the massive chimney - the only landmark for miles.
Dramatic pictures show Lieutenant Donell Fairweather being lowered on a winch line to the top of the chimney on Wednesday.
He promptly grabbed the aircraft and was then lowered to the ground nearby, while the helicopter landed in a field next to the chimney.
Roger said that he couldn't repeat the feat if he tried, and was initially totally dumbfounded about how to free the plane.
On the off chance, a pal called Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Helston, Cornwall, and luckily they were on a training exercise at the time and were glad to help.
Roger, from Camborne, Cornwall, said: "We were having a competition of spot-landing. I had the perfect spot-landing alright, you could say.
'IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE'
"I am a novice pilot anyway and last Sunday was windy. How the heck it got in the top of the chimney I don't know.
"Even if you tried to get it in there you'd be banging into the sides. It was unbelievable."
In desperation, a member of the model aeroplane club RC Cornwall Flyers got in touch with the Navy to see if they could help.
A search and rescue training sortie was already planned for Wednesday, October 23, by members of 824 Naval Air Squadron, which trains Merlin helicopter crews.
Lieutenant Commander Steve Thomas, the senior pilot and instructor, said the opportunity to adapt their day to take into account this extra test was too good to miss.
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He said: "We had a three and half hour training sortie booked for the afternoon and this was a genuinely valuable training opportunity for a student pilot who had been given an unusual search and rescue scenario, and staff rear crew who had the task of conducting the rescue.
"The task was far from simple and we spent a great deal of time and effort planning and considering all possible options, plans and dangers.
"Everyone gets more out of doing something like this than they do just training at the airfield."
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