Members of Royal Navy helicopter search and rescue crews have received bravery awards from the Queen for three dramatic rescues, it was announced yesterday.
Lieutenant-Commander Martin Lanni and Petty Officer Aircrewman Kevin Regan, from HMS Gannet in Prestwick, were presented with the Air Force Cross and Queen’s Gallantry Medal respectively.
Lieutenant-Commander Lanni, 39, flew the helicopter that plucked three climbers off a cliff on Ben Nevis in a daring night-time operation in atrocious weather.
The men were trapped on a ledge in a blizzard, out of reach of the mountain rescue team. The four-man helicopter crew worked for more than six hours to reach them, retreating off the mountain four times to regroup. Despite a dropping fuel gauge, the Sea King returned twice more to lift 12 members of the mountain rescue teams to safety.
Without the helicopter’s intervention, in May 2007, lives would have been lost.
Observer Lieutenant-Commander Martin “Florry” Ford was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in the Air for his part in the rescue.
Petty Officer Regan, 30, was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for two rescues, one of which involved plucking a man who was high on drugs and extremely aggressive out of Loch Long, Argyll.
Police in a boat attending the incident, in June 2007, had been unable to rescue the man. Petty Officer Regan was lowered on a short line from the helicopter and faced verbal and physical abuse before the man passed out, allowing the officer to winch him clear, a difficult task as he was unconscious. Petty Officer Regan then administered emergency first aid en route to hospital.
In another incident, in January last year, Petty Officer Regan was part of a crew that rescued six people from the deck of a stricken ferry in the Irish sea near Blackpool.
In the dark and in dreadful weather, MV Riverdance was listing 45 degrees in heavy seas. Because of the conditions the rescue had to be rapid, and Petty Officer Regan risked his own safety by unclipping from the winch line to allow passengers to be lifted two at a time to speed the evacuation.
Lieutenant-Commander Lanni said: “It was an enormous honour to travel to the Palace of Holyrood and to receive my award from Her Majesty the Queen.
“It is a true high point in my career with the Royal Navy. It was a surprise to hear that I had been awarded the Air Force Cross and it makes me feel humble to be recognised in such a way for simply doing my job.
“That said, it was a tough rescue and the stakes couldn’t have been higher. I had a superb crew with me and we all pulled together to make sure that those climbers were taken to safety. And the Lochaber Mountain Rescue members also deserve a mention and recognition for their critical role in this rescue.”
Petty Officer Regan said: “This has been an extremely proud moment for me. I’m just really pleased and still surprised that I have been awarded this honour.
“Growing up I never expected that I’d end up meeting the Queen. Obviously it’s nice to be honoured, but both rescues involved a four-man crew so this is for all of us, not just me.
“At the end of the day we were just doing our job and given the circumstances I’d do exactly the same again.”
Altogether, five members of HMS Gannet — 20 per cent of the Royal Navy’s personnel at the unit — learnt that they had been variously awarded the Air Force Cross, Queen’s Gallantry Medal and Queen’s Commendation for Bravery in the Air.
The honours covered four complex and dangerous rescues that led to more than 20 lives being saved.
A further three unit members were awarded a Commander in Chief Fleet Commendation for their roles in a number of rescues.
In 2007 HMS Gannet became the UK’s busiest helicopter search and rescue station since records began, with 359 call outs, assisting 349 people, of whom 286 were casualties.
Last year the station broke its own record, with 382 call outs, on which 347 people were rescued. The station provides cover for 98,000 square miles around the west of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.
