RSAF rescue chopper saves burns victim on tanker ship, then on way back rescues 3 men whose yacht caught fire

SINGAPORE — A Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) rescue helicopter had just evacuated a badly burnt crewman from a tanker ship on Thursday (Jan 16) when the rescue crew attended another call from three men stranded in the ocean after their yacht caught fire.

“The crew managed to swiftly locate the three stranded men and winched all three of them up into the helicopter, before safely evacuating all four casualties to the Singapore General Hospital,” the RSAF said in a Facebook post on Thursday evening.

Speaking to TODAY over the phone on Friday (Jan 17), Captain Bek Ernest, who headed the search and rescue mission, said that this was the first time in his nine-year career as a search and rescue pilot that he was activated to conduct two operations in one flight.

He said that search and rescue missions are typically conducted once or twice a month and described his experience on Thursday as “unusual”.

The 33-year-old helicopter pilot from 126 Squadron said that the six-man Rescue 10 crew was activated from Sembawang Air Base at about 4.30pm on Thursday to rescue a casualty from an oil tanker in the east of Singapore.

As they flew to their location in a Super Puma helicopter, they were notified of a yacht at a separate location that had caught fire.

Captain Bek declined to disclose the exact locations of the incidents.

With both incidents located 20 nautical miles apart and in close proximity to each other, the crew decided to conduct both operations on the same flight.

They first evacuated the man who had suffered third-degree burns on his lower limbs from the tanker ship.

Medical officer and full-time national serviceman (NSF) Captain Tan Sher Yin, 27, who was engaging in a search and rescue mission for the first time, said he found the man four flights below the deck of the tanker.

Captain Tan, together with Third sergeant Ma Siu Man, a 22-year-old NSF with 125 Squadron, then carefully carried the man up in a stretcher before hoisting him up to the helicopter.

Captain Tan said that the burns appeared to be caused by a malfunctioning pipe in the engine room of the tanker, although he was unable to verify it due to a language barrier with the tanker’s crew.

The team then turned to rescuing the three men who were stranded out at sea, having abandoned their yacht.

Captain Bek said that when they arrived at the second location 15 minutes later, they found the yacht “half sunken and charred, and still on fire”. The Rescue 10 crew said they did not know how the yacht caught fire.

However, the three stranded men appeared to be calm and had no visible injuries.

Even so, the second operation posed its own set of challenges.

Captain Bek said that he was concerned that the downwash, or wind that is blown downwards by the turning rotor blades of the helicopter, would destabilise the dinghy the men were in, affecting the operations.

So this is how the crew rescued the men: They lowered the winch from the helicopter and got each man to swim over to the winch before hoisting them up into the helicopter.

With everybody safely on board, the Rescue 10 then headed back to shore, landing in an open field at the Singapore General Hospital.

Pictures on the RSAF’s Facebook post show the casualties being carried out of the rescue helicopter on a stretcher.

A Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) spokesperson told TODAY on Friday that it was informed of the incident involving the yacht at 4pm on Thursday.

“MPA issued a navigational broadcast for vessels in the area to render assistance,” the spokesperson added.

MPA could not comment on the status of the tanker ship.

All four men are reported to be conscious and in a stable condition, said RSAF.

“One Rescue 10 sortie, two life-saving missions, four lives saved. From all of us at #TheRSAF, we wish all four of them a speedy recovery,” the post concluded.