Date: 19 Nov 2003
Time: 12:35
A five-member crew from 103 Search and Rescue Squadron have earned the Cormorant Helicopter Rescue Trophy for their courageous efforts in successfully rescuing sixteen crewmembers from a stricken vessel off the coast of Newfoundland on a stormy winter night last January.
The crew received the award during the National Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX 03) held in Gander from 1 - 4 October, 2003.
The trophy was commissioned and given to the Canadian Forces last year by Agusta-Westland / EHI, makers of the Cormorant helicopter, to recognise the heroic efforts of search and rescue professionals. It will be presented annually to the helicopter crew who performs the most demanding rescue operation within Canada’s area of responsibility. The honour can be awarded to either civilian government or military helicopter crews and they do not have to be flying the Cormorant EH101.
The selection committee is comprised of 1 CAD HQ, Transport Canada, the National SAR Secretariat, the Helicopter Association of Canada and Agusta-Westland/EH Industries.
“We gave (the trophy) to the Chief of the Air Staff as his gift because Canada had no award to recognise the efforts of a crew,” said Jeremy Tracy, chief test pilot and director of operations in Canada for Team Cormorant.
The rescue that won the award occurred on 23 January 2003 when the 133-metre Finnish freighter Camilla, lost engine power and steerage capacity and was adrift in stormy seas with evening rapidly approaching. With winds gusting up to 70 km per hour and 10-metre waves crashing over the deck, the vessel was in danger of capsizing.
Due to the distance of the rescue, the Cormorant required a lot of fuel and had to be stripped of all non-essential equipment so that it could pick up the 16 Camilla crewmembers, making it the largest rescue ever with the Cormorant aircraft.
Once the crew reached the Camilla, the continuous violent rolling and pitching of the vessel made the positioning of the aircraft to the vessel extremely difficult. The pilot could only hold a constant position for seconds at a time. Major Gilbert Thibault, Aircraft Commander said they only had one hour and 15 minutes to perform the extraction, which was completed with five minutes to spare before making the one-hour flight to St Johns, Nfld.