18/05/2004

Rescuer injured as helicopter strikes mountainside

A member of a civilian mountain rescue team is being treated for injuries received after he fell from a search and rescue helicopter that struck a mountainside in the Lake District.

The man is reported to have sustained serious injuries when he fell some 40 feet from the Royal Navy Sea King helicopter. The helicopter is understood to have been manoeuvring into position to winch a rescuer onto the mountainside in an attempt to render assistance to a walker who had been hurt in a fall. The helicopter's rotors were apparently damaged when it struck a rock face and the aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing - the crew escaped unhurt.

The incident occurred at around 3pm on Monday near the Pike of Stickle in the Lake District.

In the subsequent rescue operation involving a second Sea King helicopter scrambled from RAF Boulmer the injured walker, a man in his 20s who had sustained shoulder injuries in a fall, and the rescue worker, were retrieved and taken to hospital in Carlisle.

The Royal Navy is to conduct a full accident inquiry into the incident.

(SP)

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