The sheltering skies

For over a quarter of a century, Channel Islands Air Search has plucked the stricken from the seas surrounding our fair shores. With a brief history and a pensive glance at the expenses, Nigel Baudains uncovers the makings of a heroic organisation FROM its formation 26 years ago, Channel Islands Air Search soon established itself as a fundamental part of local rescue operations.

Having begun life as an organisation with a borrowed aircraft, it now boasts it own purpose-built premises and state-of-the-art equipment.

With its involvement in more than 600 search operations, CIAS chief officer Captain Roger Dadd reflected on how the organisation had been formed and the improvements that had been made.

'Initially we were called Guernsey Air Search but we quickly realised that it was a pan-Channel Islands thing,' he said.

'We changed it to CIAS because we wanted the name to reflect properly what we do.'

The organisation's search area extends across some 4,600 square miles and while accepting that its Guernsey base came about fortuitously, Captain Dadd said it was the ideal location.

'Geographically, Guernsey allows us easy access to the shipping lanes in the Channel, Jersey, Alderney and the French coast,' he said.

Four men with detailed experience of Channel Island waters, some of them with particular specialist skills in search and rescue and maritime operations, originally identified the need for a local air operation.

Capt. Dadd, ex Fleet Air Arm navigator David Keys and Guernsey Airlines pilots David Ozanne and Andy Blake - an ex wing commander who had flown Shackletons and Nimrods - founded the organisation in 1980.

'We realised that there was nothing here in the islands that could provide a rapid response short of asking the local light aircraft clubs to go and have a look around,' said Capt. Dadd.

Initially the organisation operated a Piper Aztec, owned by Guernsey Airlines and used for communication purposes, and it carried out its first search on 2 August 1980.

'It proved so successful that we rapidly outstripped the basic equipment on the aircraft and it was clear that we needed a dedicated aircraft 24/7,' said Capt. Dadd.

In 1984, the Lions' Club of Guernsey bought the aircraft from Guernsey Airlines, additional search equipment was added and it was painted in sea/air-rescue colours.

In recognition of the benefactor, it was a given a new name - Lions' Pride.

But it did not have a hangar.

'The aircraft was parked on one end of the apron and the crew room was a small, bare, concrete hut with one kettle and no toilet.'

A hangar was eventually secured near the site of the organisation's present home and when this was demolished, a temporary base was found within the Aiglle building.

In 1991 CIAS embarked on a search of a different kind when an appeal for £300,000 was launched to buy and equip a new aircraft.

The Lions' Clubs of both Guernsey and Jersey helped make the campaign a success.

A Britten Norman Islander was bought from Ecuador to replace the 17-year-old Piper Aztec. The new aircraft underwent its first test flights in September 1991.

Another successful fund-raising campaign collected the £125,000 that was necessary to build and fit out CIAS' current home which was opened in 1996. The organisation owns the building on which the land sits, but rents it from the States on a peppercorn basis.

'It was purpose-built for our needs and compared to the concrete shed it is unbelievable in terms of facilities,' said Capt. Dadd.The building houses a crew room with separate changing facilities for men and women. Engineering and administration facilities are accommodated within the same building.

'If you are going to run a service such as this, you could not have anything better.'

The crew

The CIAS target is to get the Lions' Pride's engines started within 25 minutes of receiving a call.

Capt. Dadd said the Islander aircraft was an extremely robust, stable and simple aeroplane which had the ability to fly slowly.

'If volunteers are jumping aboard at 3am on a horrible night and maybe the pilot hasn't flown it for three weeks or so, everyone is very comfortable with it,' he said.

'But it's noisy and drafty and like any other British aeroplane, the heater is either on fry or freeze.'

The Lions' Pride can accommodate five people and the CIAS team generally consists of 25, all of whom are volunteers. Two crews need to be available at any one time to allow for rotation.

During operations, the crew wears military-spec survival suits and life jackets with emergency locator beacons.

Included in the team are seven pilots, all professionally qualified and with a minimum of 2,500 flying hours' behind them.

Capt. Dadd said the pilot was principally the 'chauffeur' and the search director was the manager of the aircraft. The six directors have a high level of navigational expertise and come from mixed flying and aeronautical backgrounds.

Three observers will be aboard the aircraft. The crew can communicate with each other but only the pilot and search director can transmit.

Current observers include a midwife and a hotelier, bankers, aircraft engineers and builders. Capt. Dadd said their ability to stay focused and maintain concentration was essential.

'It's a very disciplined process and the bulk of it can be very monotonous for them,' he said.

'A grey and flat sea and the horizon can soon start merging into one.'

In the region of 50% of the time that Lion's Pride is airborne is spent training crew members, though this would not be done during a search operation.

The aircraft can fly for up to five hours and will search for up to three-and-a-half hours at any one time.

'If we come back to Guernsey and the fog has come in, for instance, we need the time to go on to Jersey,' said Capt. Dadd.The aircraft

The Lions' Pride aircraft houses standard maritime search equipment, broadly speaking similar to that of the Nimrod.

'We are not equipped to kill submarines,' said Capt. Dadd.

Its global-positioning system uses not only satellite stations, but differential ground-based ones to enhance accuracy and it can work to within one metre.

Its search radar covers an area up to 24 miles and through an arc of 230 degrees.

A ball underneath the nose of the aircraft houses a £200,000 thermal-imaging camera which can detect change in temperature to 0.1C.

It relays information to two screens - one at the front for night operation and another for the search director. The ball houses a standard TV camera.

The aircraft also has a searchlight, a 450 watt loudhailer and a life raft capable of holding 11 people and which can be dropped.

It carries 10 four-minute smoke flares that are used to mark the surface of the water to enable boats to find something more easily.

A homer set enables the aircraft to home in on distress beacons or vessels or aircraft transmitting on their respective recognised distress frequency.

A night strobe provides a flashing light beacon which may be dropped to a target.

Observers have an image intensifier to use when looking for things in the dark.

The cost

The organisation currently needs about £70,000 per year to operate.

President of the Guernsey Friends of CIAS - the fund-raising arm - Julyan Gardener-Wheeler said the figure could fluctuate for many reasons but it never seemed to go down.

He said anybody could require CIAS at any time.

'You do not necessarily need to be on a boat and a person might just have fallen from rocks,' he said.

He said those whom CIAS had helped had been very appreciative and the search process was time-critical.

'CIAS is a high-profile organisation and it's a bit of a sad reflection that the more searches we do, the higher our profile becomes.'

The other Channel Islands also provide funding to help keep the service in operation.

Many fund-raising initiatives have taken place over the years, including an aircraft pull at Guernsey Airport, and the work goes on.

Founder of the Friends John Torode initially raised money by walking the pontoons in the marinas and persuading visiting yachtsmen to part with their cash.