Royal Navy aviator killed after helicopter had ‘double engine failure’
A Royal Navy aviator has died after a military helicopter ditched in the English Channel during a night flying exercise.
The member of the Fleet Air Arm was aboard a Merlin Mk4 which plunged into the water on Wednesday evening.
The helicopter, with a crew of three, was conducting mission rehearsals with the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
All three individuals were aboard when the Merlin Mk4 made a deliberate emergency landing.
Colleagues of the deceased were rescued from the choppy waters. Though not seriously injured, they were taken to hospital as a precaution.
The incident involved a Merlin Mk4 helicopter that ditched into the sea while conducting night flying exercises with HMS Queen Elizabeth near Dorset (file image)
HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves Portsmouth Harbour on Monday afternoon
The Merlin Mk4 is powered by three Rolls-Royce jet engines generating a combined 6,500 horsepower and a top speed of 160 knots (pictured is a Merlin MK 4 on exercise as a Marine fast-ropes down)
Preliminary inquiries into the accident have suggested the helicopter suffered a loss of power.
The Merlin Mk4 is powered by three Rolls-Royce jet engines generating a combined 6,500 horsepower and a top speed of 160 knots.
It also has three separate hydraulic systems and three separate fuel lines.
The duplication of these capabilities, known to naval aviators as ‘redundancies’, is intended to ensure that should an engine or a hydraulic system fail, another can compensate.
But on this exceptionally rare occasion, it seems at least two, possibly three engines, suffered an irretrievable loss of power.
The deceased, who was based at the Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton, Somerset, is likely to be named tomorrow.
The Prime Minister, the Defence Secretary and senior Royal Navy officers paid tribute.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tweeted he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the horror incident
The helicopter was carrying out a training mission with HMS Queen Elizabeth when it ditched into the sea. Pictured is the aircraft carrier arriving at its home in Portsmouth
Admiral Sir Ben Key, the First Sea Lord, added that he was ‘intensely saddened by the tragic loss of one of our Royal Navy personnel’
Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘deeply saddened to hear of the tragic death of a member of the Royal Navy’.
John Healey MP, who was visiting the Royal Navy in Portsmouth on Thursday morning said: ‘This is very sad news, that everyone connected with our armed forces dreads.
‘All my thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues today. I’ve been able to share my condolences with Navy personnel and I am here with the First Sea Lord (1SL).
‘A full investigation has already started and that will be one of his first priorities. It will be for the investigation [to find out what happened].
‘Today, is a day to mourn the loss of a valued member of naval personnel and to think about his family, his friends and his colleagues. The wider naval service also feels his loss.’
Admiral Sir Ben Key, the First Sea Lord, added that he was ‘intensely saddened by the tragic loss of one of our Royal Navy personnel’.
The Merlin Mk4 has an exceptional safety record, according to navy sources. The helicopter is 75ft long and weighs almost 16 tonnes.
It is designed to move up to 24 personnel and equipment across sea and land. The helicopter is also used in evacuation situations and for humanitarian missions.
Importantly, it is equipped with floatation aids, known as ‘flop bags’, which are released from the helicopter if it ditches in water.
These are supposed to keep the Merlin afloat. The functionality of these aids will form part of the accident investigation.
John Healey MP, who was visiting the Royal Navy in Portsmouth on Thursday morning (pictured) said: ‘This is very sad news, that everyone connected with our armed forces dreads’
Defence Secretary John Healey during a visit to HMS Diamond at HM Naval Base Portsmouth on Thursday
The helicopter ditched rather than crashed, which means that it made a deliberate emergency landing. No other helicopters were involved.
Last night, a Royal Navy spokesperson said: ‘It is with great sadness that we must report a member of the Royal Navy has died following a training accident.
‘Our thoughts are with the family – who have been informed – and all those affected at this sad time.’
HMS Queen Elizabeth is described on the Navy’s website as ‘the largest and most powerful vessel ever constructed for the Royal Navy’ which is capable of carrying up to 40 aircraft.
The vessel had been docked at Portsmouth Harbour until Monday when it headed back out to sea for ‘a busy period of equipment trials and training’, the vessel’s account on X wrote.
The 65,000-tonne warship is one of two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers built for the Royal Navy. Its sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales departed Portsmouth on Sunday.
The mammoth warships are the size of four football pitches and can accommodate 1,600 sailors and aircrew.
The Merlin MK 4 is one of the most advanced helicopters in the navy’s Fleet Air Arm, with HMS Queen Elizabeth capable of carrying four of the aircraft alongside an embarked squadron of up to 36 F-35B stealth jets.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the incident (he is pictured in London on Wednesday)
Pictured: The Queen Elizabeth class features HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales
A graphic shows how the Queen Elizabeth class of carriers – which includes two vessels; the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales – can produce 500 tonnes of fresh water from sea water daily
It can be used to fly special forces troops and Royal Marine Commandos into combat, while the Merlin Mk2 is principally used as a submarine hunter.
Capable of flying at speeds of almost 200mph, the helicopters have a range of 750 nautical miles and can lift 3.8 tonnes – more than the weight of a large transit van.
Military helicopter crashes are rare, with crews on aircraft carriers routinely carrying out drills to prepare for such an incident.
In March 2003, six British personnel and one American were killed when two Royal Navy Sea King Mk 7 Airborne Early Warning helicopters collided over the northern Arabian Gulf.
The helicopters were from 849 Squadron A Flight, which is based at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, in Cornwall.
In May 1982, twenty SAS troopers were killed when a Sea King helicopter crammed with troops and equipment plunged into the South Atlantic during the Falklands war.
The accident is said to have been caused by a bird hitting an engine mid-flight.
Only nine people made escape the crash, with survivors having to cling to a lift raft in freezing, rough seas before they could be reached by rescuers.
Wednesday’s helicopter disaster is the latest nightmare incident to rock the ‘cursed’ HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The bedevilled warship was recently forced to spend months in dry dock following a fault with her propeller shaft.
The issue, spotted in March, was similar to the defect that went on to cripple Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister, HMS Prince of Wales, leaving that ship out of action for almost a year and the Senior Service with a multi-million-pound repair bill.
While the Queen Elizabeth was docked at Glenmallan, by Loch Long in Scotland, a fire broke out inside the 932ft-long leviathan which ‘ripped through’ the carrier and destroyed 100 beds, leaving 10 sailors in need of medical treatment.
The vessel – the pride of the Royal Navy and flagship of the fleet – departed the dock in July after work to fix the fire damage and repair her propeller was completed.
Inside Britain’s most powerful warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth
At 280 metres long, with a lifespan of half a century and a flight deck of four acres, HMS Queen Elizabeth is Britain’s largest and most powerful warship ever built.
Here are the facts and figures behind the vessel which was officially commissioned into the Royal Navy December 7, 2017.
HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, weighs some 65,000 tonnes and has a top speed of 25 knots and a four-acre flight deck
- The aircraft carrier weighs 65,000 tonnes and has a top speed in excess of 25 knots.
- A number of ship building yards around the country were involved in the build – these include Govan and Scotstoun in Glasgow, Appledore in Devon, Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, Wirral, A&P on the Tyne in Newcastle and Portsmouth.
- A total of 10,000 people worked on construction of the ship, made up in sections at yards around the UK and transported to Rosyth, Fife, where it was assembled.
- It is the second ship in the Royal Navy to be named Queen Elizabeth.
- The ship has a crew of around 700, that increased to 1,600 when the full complement of F-35B jets and Crowsnest helicopters embarked.
- There are 364,000 metres of pipes inside the ship, and from keel to masthead she measures 56 metres, four metres more than Niagara Falls.
- Facilities onboard include a chapel, a medical centre and 12-bed ward, staffed with GPs, a nurse and medical assistants, as well as a dentist and dental nurse.
- There are also five gyms on the warship which include a cardiovascular suite, two free weight rooms and a boxing gym.
- Regular fitness circuit sessions and sporting activities such as basketball and tug of war are held in the hangar and on the flight deck, with weights and other items stored inside the flight deck ramp.
- There are five galleys on the warship which is where the food is cooked and those on board eat their meals everyday. This includes two main galleys, the bridge mess and an aircrew refreshment bar.
- The distribution network on board manages enough energy to power 30,000 kettles or 5,500 family homes.
- Its flight deck is 280 metres long and 70 metres wide, enough space for three football pitches.
- The entire ship’s company of 700 can be served a meal within 90 minutes, 45 minutes when at action stations.
- Recreational spaces enjoyed by the crew feature televisions and sofas, as well as popular board games including the traditional Royal Navy game of Uckers.
- Each of the two aircraft lifts on HMS Queen Elizabeth can move two fighter jets from the hangar to the flight deck in 60 seconds.
- The warship has a range of 8,000 to 10,000 nautical miles, and has two propellers – each weighing 33 tonnes and with a combined 80MW output of power – enough to run 1,000 family cars or 50 high speed trains.
