From Office of the Governor and the Office of the Premier

The RCIPS helicopter will continue its deployment in The Bahamas in support of the relief effort following Hurricane Dorian. The extension request has come from the Bahamian Government who have been very appreciative of Cayman’s support. The extension has been approved by His Excellency the Governor Martyn Roper and the Honourable Premier Alden McLaughlin.

The aircraft deployed last week with two crews (two pilots – Nigel Pitt and Richard Morcombe and four tactical flight officers – Neil Mohammed, Ronnie Pollard, Greg Banks Jr and Daniel McIlhagga.  And joining the RCIPS Air Ops crew today (Monday 9 September) is a new pilot Captain Elaine Hunter who will deploy to The Bahamas on her first week in the role.

The helicopter, which is based in Nassau, is supporting humanitarian efforts taking multiple daily flights to the effected islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. The two crews are working around the clock going back and forth to the islands in support of the relief effort. The crew have been tasked with various medevacs of injured people, transporting essential specialists and carrying vital equipment. As of Sunday the H145 helicopter had flown 21 flights in 3 days.

The RCIPS Air Operations Team have been working alongside RFA Mounts Bay in their relief efforts. The two teams meet each year to plan for disasters such as this.  Now on day four of the deployment, the helicopter crew have been tasked with supporting the UK.  This will include transfer of personnel, blood and medical supplies. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who visited the Islands at the end of June and accompanied the Air Ops Unit on a training exercise with RFA Mounts Bay’s Wildcat helicopter, sent thanks to the RCIPs crew via social media. The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, also updated Parliament today on how the UK is helping The Bahamas and highlighted that the Cayman helicopter had been deployed.

The Governor said: “The RCIPS helicopter crew are working tirelessly in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. By extending the deployment Cayman will be able to support the relief effort in The Bahamas further. The Air Operations Unit and RFA Mounts Bay trained together this year and we can now see how vital such exercises are. I’d like to thank all the crew for their efforts in what must be an extremely difficult environment.”

The Premier Alden McLaughlin added: “As we approach the 15^th anniversary of Ivan this Wednesday many of us will remember the support we were offered by our Caribbean brothers and sisters during our time of need. The images we are seeing following Dorian will bring back many memories of not just Ivan but also Hurricane Paloma that impacted Cayman Brac in November 2008. We stand ready to offer the Bahamians further support if required.”

Neil Mohammed, Tactical Flight Officer commented on the tasking of the crew so far: “We deployed very quickly into the field delivering supplies and specialists. On Sunday we took six flights to Abaco, extending from Marsh Harbour to Coopers Town. The Air Ops crew transported United Nations specialists to assess humanitarian aid requirements.  We delivered specialist technicians to start recovering the hospital on Abaco. And we have been evacuating displaced people, including on one flight, two babies who were evacuated to Nassau. There’s still so much more we can do.”   

The crew has now been joined by their Arrow Aviation engineer, Alex Bordelon who arrived on Saturday and will be carrying out preventative maintenance checks during the deployment.

Background information:

·         The H145 Airbus helicopter was purchased as part of a joint deal with the UK to boost Cayman’s capability to carry out search and rescue, law enforcement and border protection operations but also to assist our fellow territories and other parts of the region during times of crisis.

·         It can be configured in various ways to take up to five passengers and three crew or two patients on stretchers or up to 500kg of cargo.

·         Since its arrival in March 2019 it has airlifted 18 patients from Cayman Brac to Grand Cayman so is well versed in medical evacuations.

·         If you want to make a contribution to the Disaster Relief fund please refer to the Cayman Islands Red Cross Facebook page or donate via Butterfield Bank account #1360350540060.

IMAGES:

Picture captions:

•       Image 1 – Working with local defence forces

•       Image 2 – Evacuating displaced people

•       Image 3 – RCIPS helicopter in the disaster zone

•       Image 4 – Helicopter transporting personnel from RFA Mounts Bay

Screenshot of Lord Ahmad’s tweet