Invergordon RNLI respond to report of ditched Hang Glider in Moray Firth

The RNLI volunteer crew were paged at 3:47pm Thursday 13 August by request from HM Coastguard in Aberdeen who had received a call that a small aircraft had ditched into the Moray Firth, which caused concern for the safety of the person on board.

Launching within eight minutes of the pagers sounding, the all-weather Trent class Lifeboat ‘Douglas Aikman Smith’ comprising of six crew, made best speed up the Cromarty Firth and began searching from the iconic Sutors to the popular dolphin location of Chanonry Point, to which other vessels also joined the search, including a Dolphin Watching tourist vessel.

The Search and Rescue helicopter ‘Rescue 151’ from Inverness also arrived on scene, after returning from routine training in the Firth a few miles away, alongside the Lifeboat and vessels searching the requested area.

Shortly after reports from the HM Coastguard to advise a Hang glider had landed safely on land and this was treated with a false alarm with good intent.

The HM Coastguard Operations team in Aberdeen released the Lifeboat from service and crew made their way to the berth in Invergordon’s West Harbour.

As the Lifeboat made the turn into the Cromarty Firth and proceeding up the Firth, the crew were requested to assist with a Medical Evacuation from an Oil Rig installation anchored in the firth, where a crew worker had suffered an ankle injury and required extracted to the shore where could receive hospital treatment. Initially cared for the Oil Rig medic and his ankle secured and transferred to the local work boat, two casualty trained crew boarded the vessel in line RNLI COVID-19 procedures and assisted in the transit into the Nigg Energy Park Berth to where the casualty was conveyed to the nearest medical practice.

The volunteer crew continued their journey back up the to the Lifeboat berth to where the Lifeboat was refuelled and made ready for service by 5:30pm

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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.

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