Suspended helicopter pilot attracts online support

AN on-line petition has been launched, calling for the reinstatement of the rescue helicopter pilot who was suspended after his chopper was filmed picking up a consignment of meat from an island butchers at the end of a training exercise.

The unidentified pilot of the CHC-operated helicopter, based at Sumburgh on Shetland, was suspended last week after a video, showing the aircraft landing in a field close to a butcher’s shop at Tankerness on neighbouring Orkney, was posted on YouTube.

More than 1000 people have already signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of the pilot while a Facebook page, dedicated to the reinstatement of the pilot, has also attracted more than 6000 members.

One of the first people to post a message of support on the Facebook page was Alistair Carmichael, the MP for Orkney and Shetland. He has already held talks about the pilot’s suspension with Sir Alan Massey, the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The rescue helicopter is operated by CHC Helicopters on behalf of the MCA.

Mr Carmichael said yesterday: “It does look to me as being just a little bit on the heavy handed side. It’s the sort of thing that might have happened ten or 15 years ago and nobody would have been any the wiser about it.

“But these days everyone has got a phone in their pocket that’s got a camera and it’s five minutes from being uploaded on to the Internet.”

He added: “I suspect that, at the back of the minds of those executives in the (helicopter) company who make these decisions there is a question of reputational risk. But when you look at that reputation from the point of view of the isles you have to remember that there are people here who owe their lives to the ability and the bravery of these pilots. Over the years they have been involved in some quite remarkable rescues.”