Tristan da Cunha Emergency Airdrop
Discussion
British Army medics and medical supplies have been parachuted (literally) into Tristan da Cunha, after a suspected case of hantavirus in someone who had recently been a passenger on the MV Hondius. No air strip and days away from the nearest support ship. There are some cool videos and photos doing the rounds.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgzv77ldpdo
Anyone else have this playing in their head?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaEU_A405zA&t=...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgzv77ldpdo
Anyone else have this playing in their head?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaEU_A405zA&t=...
Sheepshanks said:
Incredible - are there any circumstances in which anything like this has happened before?
This whole hantavirus thing shows that if you're going to get ill while on holiday, it's best to do it as part of a crowd.
There was a bomb threat to QE2 in May 1972 that led to a non-parachutist Ammunition Technical Officer being parachuted into the sea supported by 2 SBS marines and an SAS trooper.This whole hantavirus thing shows that if you're going to get ill while on holiday, it's best to do it as part of a crowd.
https://www.worldofcruising.co.uk/editors-corner/c...
https://www.royalmarineshistory.com/post/2018/04/0...
The Royal Navy also maintain a Submarine Parachute Assistance Group who can parachute into the sea to support rescue efforts from a sunken submarine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_Parachute_...
Hill92 said:
Sheepshanks said:
Incredible - are there any circumstances in which anything like this has happened before?
This whole hantavirus thing shows that if you're going to get ill while on holiday, it's best to do it as part of a crowd.
There was a bomb threat to QE2 in May 1972 that led to a non-parachutist Ammunition Technical Officer being parachuted into the sea supported by 2 SBS marines and an SAS trooper.This whole hantavirus thing shows that if you're going to get ill while on holiday, it's best to do it as part of a crowd.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071706/?ref_=nv_sr_s...
Sheepshanks said:
Incredible - are there any circumstances in which anything like this has happened before?
This whole hantavirus thing shows that if you're going to get ill while on holiday, it's best to do it as part of a crowd.
First time something like this has been done for medical purposes. This whole hantavirus thing shows that if you're going to get ill while on holiday, it's best to do it as part of a crowd.
I've project managed the installation of some shizzle on Tristan in the past, let me tell you it's not particularly easy to get kit and engineers to and from site! Sadly I didn't get to visit myself, but if I had I could have been stuck there for a few months. And there's not much to do...
Sadly for me the Paras weren't available to airdrop my kit and engineer in for me!
Kudos to all involved.
Sadly for me the Paras weren't available to airdrop my kit and engineer in for me!
Kudos to all involved.
aeropilot said:
6 man team from the Pathfinder Platoon.
Fair play to the nurse and doctor that tandem jumped in with them.
They were army medics so it's probably not as crazy as if it were a random doctor and nurse plucked from a local A&E, but I'm sure still very thrilling and plenty of material for some lectures and after-dinner speeches!Fair play to the nurse and doctor that tandem jumped in with them.
I assume the medics won't be able to drink alcohol, but the rest of them can make up for it...
Camoradi said:
Just looked up Tristan Da Cunha to see exactly how remote it was, and had to smile when I saw that just to the South West is the aptly named "Inaccessible Island"
Wiki: "The harbour on Inaccessible Island allows access for only a few days of the year", so not completly inaccessible thenGareth79 said:
aeropilot said:
6 man team from the Pathfinder Platoon.
Fair play to the nurse and doctor that tandem jumped in with them.
They were army medics so it's probably not as crazy as if it were a random doctor and nurse plucked from a local A&E.Fair play to the nurse and doctor that tandem jumped in with them.
Enormous gonads all round.
Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
Amazingly bold.
Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
Amazingly bold.
Gareth79 said:
aeropilot said:
6 man team from the Pathfinder Platoon.
Fair play to the nurse and doctor that tandem jumped in with them.
They were army medics so it's probably not as crazy as if it were a random doctor and nurse plucked from a local A&E, but I'm sure still very thrilling and plenty of material for some lectures and after-dinner speeches!Fair play to the nurse and doctor that tandem jumped in with them.
I assume the medics won't be able to drink alcohol, but the rest of them can make up for it...
That’s quite something.
CloudStuff said:
Enormous gonads all round.
Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
There was only one A400M going down south to drop the para's and drop the medical supplies. They may have had some emergency air drop survival life rafts on board just in case some of them didn't get the drop right and landed in the Atlantic, but that's about all the contingency plan could have been, but given they were clearly not wearing kit for that, it would have been unpleasant if any of them had landed in the Atlantic. They would have had to survive quite a while in those lift rafts, as they would have had to paddle to TdC as no other rescue would be on the horizon for many days. The only RN vessel in the south atlantic is at least 2000 miles away in the FI. Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
aeropilot said:
CloudStuff said:
Enormous gonads all round.
Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
There was only one A400M going down south to drop the para's and drop the medical supplies. They may have had some emergency air drop survival life rafts on board just in case some of them didn't get the drop right and landed in the Atlantic, but that's about all the contingency plan could have been, but given they were clearly not wearing kit for that, it would have been unpleasant if any of them had landed in the Atlantic. They would have had to survive quite a while in those lift rafts, as they would have had to paddle to TdC as no other rescue would be on the horizon for many days. The only RN vessel in the south atlantic is at least 2000 miles away in the FI. Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
Sheepshanks said:
aeropilot said:
CloudStuff said:
Enormous gonads all round.
Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
There was only one A400M going down south to drop the para's and drop the medical supplies. They may have had some emergency air drop survival life rafts on board just in case some of them didn't get the drop right and landed in the Atlantic, but that's about all the contingency plan could have been, but given they were clearly not wearing kit for that, it would have been unpleasant if any of them had landed in the Atlantic. They would have had to survive quite a while in those lift rafts, as they would have had to paddle to TdC as no other rescue would be on the horizon for many days. The only RN vessel in the south atlantic is at least 2000 miles away in the FI. Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
Still not a good prospect to land in the Atlantic not wearing an immersion suit like a pilot might wear.
aeropilot said:
Sheepshanks said:
aeropilot said:
CloudStuff said:
Enormous gonads all round.
Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
There was only one A400M going down south to drop the para's and drop the medical supplies. They may have had some emergency air drop survival life rafts on board just in case some of them didn't get the drop right and landed in the Atlantic, but that's about all the contingency plan could have been, but given they were clearly not wearing kit for that, it would have been unpleasant if any of them had landed in the Atlantic. They would have had to survive quite a while in those lift rafts, as they would have had to paddle to TdC as no other rescue would be on the horizon for many days. The only RN vessel in the south atlantic is at least 2000 miles away in the FI. Can somebody help me understand. *Surely* there would have been a contingency plan for one or more of them missing the target?
It doesn't bear thinking about, simply being lost in the Atlantic. We do have certain forces who are capable in the water and can deploy boats from the air as well. So, maybe it was something like that.
Still not a good prospect to land in the Atlantic not wearing an immersion suit like a pilot might wear.
TriumphStag3.0V8 said:
The island of TdC is small, but it's not *that* small. It's about 4 x the size of Guernsey so they weren't likely to miss it completely.
But the target they were wanting to land on is a small target, and about 90% of the island you wouldn't want to be heading for if under silk, there's not many flat bits....!! and especially in the high winds that are there most of the time.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff