SLAF's daring missions to save lives

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

The wind blew at 30 knots and there was no decrease. The clouds and the rain made it impossible to see anything beyond 1,000 metres. The weather was becoming turbulent, creating an adverse situation. This was how the sky was like when the Sri Lanka Air Force Bell412’s and Y12’s took off to search and rescue the missing and stranded fishermen who have gone to the sea in the wee hours of June 8. It was a fateful day for Sri Lankans and specially for the fishing community living along the coastal line where more than 50 fishermen perished.

Squadron Leader Nipuna Thanippuli Arachchi	Wing Commander Channa Dissanayake

Information was flowing in from many people and relevant officials on spotting possible survivors in the sea and in these conditions the best search option lay with the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ready to face any challenge. Sri Lanka Air Force received instructions to conduct search and rescue missions in the surprisingly adverse weather.

Thus, with very short notice and with 10 - 15 minutes preparation time the SLAF Squadrons No. 4 and No. 8 prepared for the search and rescues.

The first airborne were the Y12’s of the No 8 squadron with Squadron Leader Daminda Rambukwella as the Captain pilot with the co pilot flying Officer Dilshan Kithsiri. “We were instructed to do the search operations initially so that the helicopter squadron can directly reach the locations,” said Squadron Leader Rambukwella.

“It was a very adverse weather condition with strong winds. The cloud base was 500 feet. So we had to fly very low,” Sq. Ldr. Rambukwella said.

Then the Y12 received instructions to proceed towards Beruwala. Reaching Beruwala the two pilots spotted one survivor about five kilometres North of the Beruwala light house. We were communicating with the bell412 helicopter throughout and we sent this message to them,” he said. The Y12 continued their search operations more in Beruwala and spotted three more survivors, this time more into the deep sea – about 25 – 30 kilometres from the light house.

The Bell 412 team

Though we informed the Bell 412 the weather at that moment became so adverse we had to look for an alternative to rescue these people, said Rambukwella. Fortunately they spotted a trawler located very close and the Y12 pilots managed to communicate with them in getting the boat to rescue the survivors.

“But the winds and the sea was so rough the boat could not see the victims. So the helicopter guided the trawler to the survivors and the trawler managed to rescue the three people,” said Rambukwella.

For Wing Commander Channa Dissanayake the Commanding Officer of the Squadron No.4 – the Bell helicopter fleet - it was a good day of judgement of how their versatility and flexibility – testing how fast they could switch roles from VIP transportation to rescue missions in a deadly storm. Ironically for the No.4 squadron it was exactly after one week from celebrating the 48 years of the fleet.

“This emergency call was after a long time. In all other occasions we had sufficient time to prepare ourselves for that mission. But in this case with the sudden changes in the weather pattern time was a limited crucial factor,” said Wing Commander Channa Dissanayake starting to explain the true stories of real life heroism.

Worst case scenario

“In that weather as long as the helicopter is head on with the gusty wind, the situation is under control. Yet when the wind hits from the side creating what we call a cross wind situation, the problems start becoming worse making the helicopter go out of control. Facing that cross wind coming at 30 knots the helicopter tends to turn and totally go out of control,” Wing Comm. Dissanayake explained.

One of the Gunners, Flight Sergeant Gomes explained a deadly situation their rescuer faced during the mission. Gomes spotted a the victim and informed the pilot that he was positioned at 3 O’ clock. His fellow Airman Chaminda got down with the rope.

“The sea was very rough. I could see from the helicopter how Chaminda was struggling to avoid being washed away by heavy waves,” Gomes said.

The Beech King Air (B-200T Beechcraft) surveillance aircraft with pilots	The Beech King Air (B-200T Beechcraft) surveillance aircraft with pilots

The struggle between the rescuer and the victim was intense. The waves were pushing Chaminda 20 -25 metres away from the victim.

Finally he managed to rope the survivor and by then Chaminda was also in a crucial situation. Yet the rescuer’s job was not done. Hanging on to the rope many metres away from the helicopter and soaked in cold salty water after an intense struggle with the rough sea, the airman had to keep the survivor safely until they reached the landing point.

In those minutes the life of the survivor depended on the skill of this airman. After rescuing the person from Beruwala sea the Bell crew landed Chaminda and the survivor at the Beruwala fishing harbour and set off to save another three survivors on the information they received from the Y12 aircraft that was on search operation in the same area.

Another Bell 412 Helicopter with Captain pilot Squadron Leader Nipuna Thanippuli Arachchi and Co-Pilot Squadron Leader Indika Wijethilake along with their crew with Corporal Nanayakkara, Corporal Sampath, Corporal Nawaratne and Leading Aircraftman Kumara were hovering and flying over seas off Dehiwala for more than two hours rescuing fishermen.

“Normally a rescuer would start roping down at 100 – 80 feet height. The airman going down for rescue communicate with us using hand signals and it is us who have to communicate what our man down says to our pilots. During trainings we spend just five minutes to rescue a person but with this weather it took us nearly twenty minutes,” said the gunners.

The rescuers have to manage the panicking survivor who could do anything in his unconscious mind. It is the rescuer airman who should be strong enough to hold the victim tight and soft enough to calm his mind.

From Dehiwala the crew had to take the survivor to the Galle Face green as it is there the medical teams waited to receive them. After leaving the survivor in the hands of the medical team, the Bell412 returns to the same location to rescue the other person.

“The final call came to me from my Director Operations around 6.15 p m. Darkness was setting in and flying in the dark specially in such an adverse weather is something that we do not normally do. Yet if we tried we could save another life. Therefore, we took the risk,” said Wing Comm. Dissanayake.

The No.4 squadron is with 13 pilots along with 235 technical staff. At an instance there will be 65 on duty. We have a separate duty crew called ASR – Air Sea Rescue.

That crew about 23 is responsible for day to day servicing and preparations of the helicopters.

“Bell 412 is a multi role aircraft. This is meant for rescue missions. This can be fitted with all the rescue equipment as well. This is not only for carrying VIP. This is for search and rescue missions, casualty evacuation and for carrying troops.