§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the times at which, during exercise Operation Seafire on 17 October off the west Wales coast a helicopter from RAF Chivenor(a) was alerted, (b) was tasked, (c) took off from Chivenor, (d) landed at Menistan, (e) took off from Menistan, (f) arrived over the casualty and (g) began lowering fire fighters.
§ Mr. SoamesExercise Seafire took place on 10 October. RAF records show the times requested as:
947W
Times requested Helicopter alerted. 0620 Helicopter tasked. 0635 Helicopter took off from RAF Chivenor. 0645 Helicopter landed Morriston. 0705 approximately Helicopter took off from Morriston. 0710 approximately
Times requested Helicopter arrived over the ferry. 0730 approximately Helicopter began lowering fire fighters. 0735 approximately The response was well within the guidelines laid down for civil search and rescue operations. The answer given to the hon. Member for Pembroke (Mr. Ainger) on 23 November, Official Report, column 148, unfortunately contained an error; the distance from RAF Chivenor to the rendezvous point is 36 nautical miles, not 86 nautical miles.