15/03/2005

Missing air ambulance found on seabed

The search for an air ambulance that crashed into the sea off Campbeltown in Scotland has been called off following the discovery of wreckage on the seabed.

The light aircraft disappeared from radar at around 12:15am during its final approach into Campbeltown on the West Coast of Scotland on Tuesday.

Police named the two persons onboard as pilot Guy Henderson, 40, of Burnside, Boxburn and paramedic John Keith McCreanor, 35, of Paisley, Renfrewshire.

Following an extensive search of the area involving three lifeboats, two helicopters, and a warship, the crash site was examined by a submersible remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from the Royal Navy vessel 'Penzance' this morning. The ROV found pieces of the undercarriage and what was described as a "fifteen metre" object.

The air ambulance, a twin-engine fixed-wing Islander aircraft, had been on the way to Campbeltown from Glasgow to pick up a boy who required medical treatment.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service, which currently has contracts in place for two helicopters and four-fixed wing aircraft, described yesterday's flight as a "routine" journey. Around a fifth of the 3,200 air ambulance flights each year are for emergencies.

A 1995 crash in Lerwick, Shetland, also a Brittan-Norman Islander of the same type operated by Loganair, claimed the life of the pilot and seriously injured a doctor and nurse.

A new £40 million six-year contract awarded to English company Gama Aviation is due to come into operation in 2006.

The contract will see two specially adapted Beech 200C Super King aircraft based in Aberdeen and Glasgow and two helicopters based in Glasgow operate the service, involving a reduction of the number of aircraft in use from six to four.

Bond Helicopters, and Loganair, who have held the fixed-wing air ambulance contract for over 40 years, have flown thousands of mercy flights each year to bring people to hospital from remote areas and the Scottish Islands.

Investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Branch were expected to arrive in Campbeltown this morning to conduct an inquiry into the loss of the aircraft.

(SP)

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