After 24 hours of exceptionally heavy rain, the weather forecast on 19^th November 2009 confirmed that additional rainfall in Cumbria was going to deluge the Keswick, Cockermouth and Workington area. The Royal Air Force Search And Rescue Force on 24 hour, 365 standby, began it’s preparations for a major urban rescue operation.

Coincidentally, the Commander of the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) and his replacement were at a conference at Penrith which allowed them to deploy on the ground as on scene coordinators to assist the Cumbria Police in the rescue operation, generating RAF SAR assets directly from the affected area.

At 1700hrs, an RAF Sea King from C Flight RAF Valley took off from Anglesey in atrocious weather at the request of the ARCC. RAF Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) personnel from RAF Leeming and RAF Valley were tasked to respond, providing a Command, Control and Communications (C3) capability to coordinate Search and Rescue helicopter movements to and from the Helicopter Landing Site (HLS) in Penrith and Search and Rescue helicopter tasking in Workington.

A Sea King helicopter pilot from Boulmer was nominated as the Search and Rescue Liaison Officer (SARLO) and was rapidly despatched to the Lake District to rendezvous with the MRT personnel.

In response to the escalating situation, the Search and Rescue Force Headquarters at RAF Valley brought their Major Incident Response (MIRP) plan into play and the Crisis Management Group (CMG) was manned at 2300hrs and throughout the night to support the Search And Rescue Operation.

As the operation progressed it became obvious that this would be a protracted operation and additional Search And Rescue Flights were put on standby. Aircraft from Boulmer, Leconfield, Chivenor, Lossiemouth and Prestwick were scrambled. The Royal Navy Sea King from Prestwick’s Gannet Flight being on alert to deploy to possible severe flooding forecast for the Dumfries and Galloway area. Gannet’s crew had already carried out flood-related rescues throughout the day in Scotland.

First on scene at Cockermouth, working purely on Night Vision Goggles (NVG), was the crew from ‘C’ Flight, 22 Squadron, based at RAF Valley who lifted a total 27 people safety and at one point, the Winchman had to punch his way through a window to rescue four females trapped on the first floor of a house.

At the busiest point at 0200hrs on 20^th November, no less than three RAF Sea Kings from Valley, Boulmer and Leconfield were simultaneously hovering over the main street of Cockermouth in driving wind and rain. Later in the day, a second Sea King from Valley lifted a couple and their dogs to safety from Spark Bridge near Ulverston. The RAF Sea Kings also assisted in deploying a number of local rescue teams and in the search for survivors after two bridges in Workington collapsed.

Refuelling at Carlisle airport allowed the RAF Sea King crews to operate over an extended period, but with fuel running low in the airport’s fuel storage tanks. Fuel tankers had to be dispatched from RAF Leeming and the Tactical Supply Wing at Stafford to a second temporary helicopter landing site (HLS) at Penrith Rugby Club after the first HLS itself became flooded. This also saved transit time to Carlisle Airport for the Sea Kings, enabling them to be back on task quickly. Protective rain covers for the aircraft were despatched from RAF Valley by road, and the junior operations personnel who delivered them immediately set to work assisting at the temporary HLS.

As News Media calls began flooding the ARCC, they were diverted to SAR Force media personnel at SARF HQ where live interviews and updates were passed to the information hungry media throughout the operation. Rescue 169 from Chivenor filmed the devastation at first light using the onboard Multi Sensor System (MSS) camera and the images were pooled to the national and international media through the BBC in Plymouth. The SAR Force Commander, Chief of Staff and key SAR personnel at Valley carried out numerous live radio and TV interviews at national and regional level.

In summary, seven RAF helicopters were involved in the operation, spent 38 hours in the air, rescuing 67 people and 3 dogs. RAF Sea King crews on duty at Cockermouth were awarded three Commander-in-Chief's Commendations and a Queen's Commendation for Bravery in the Air.

Author: FS Andy Carnall

Pictures by kind permission of North News Ltd and photographers Richard Raynor and Paul Kingston