Prince William praises CI Air Search in surprise letter
Members of Channel Islands Air Search have been praised for their professionalism, commitment and dedication in a surprise letter to the charity by the Prince of Wales.
Prince William, a former search and rescue pilot himself, said he had recently heard about the ‘vital’ work CIAS did, and thanked members for everything they did to keep the 4,000 square miles of water surrounding the islands safe for those who used them.
CIAS pilot John Fitzgerald said the letter came out of the blue at the end of last week.
‘We had no idea it was coming, it’s a huge honour,’ he said.
‘It came through the letter box, my wife picked it up and she couldn’t believe it.’
In his letter, which he said came with his ‘admiration and heartfelt thanks’ for all the charity did, the Prince acknowledged the ‘challenging’ circumstances in which CIAS flew, which involved covering a ‘busy’ area for shipping and leisure craft with changeable weather conditions.
He added it was clear the coastguard and search and rescue units relied ‘greatly’ on Air Search’s ‘eyes in the sky.’
‘To continue to fly [Air Search aircraft] Lions’ Pride and provide this service on a voluntary basis – at no charge – is testament to your extraordinary professionalism, commitment as volunteers and your dedication to search and rescue,' the Prince said.
‘It is amazing what you collectively achieve each year, but as a pilot myself I know that each of you will have had personal experiences that stay with you no matter the number of rescues or hours spent flying.
‘Do remember to look after yourselves and each other.’
Mr Fitzgerald said the letter had given a sense of pride to all those involved with the charity.
‘It’s clear that he has read up on what we do through the acknowledgement of how challenging our work can be, especially as a former pilot himself. His message to look after one another is one that we will hold particularly closely as he has a very good understanding of how search and rescue works.’
William served as a search and rescue pilot at RAF Valley in Anglesey, North Wales, between 2010 and 2013. He later retrained to become an air ambulance pilot, and worked with the East Anglian Air Ambulance from March 2015 until July 2017.
