The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Volunteer pilots pledge to carry on searching
MISSING: Team to scan the seas in bid to trace teenager who fell from cliffs
Volunteers are taking to the skies to search for missing teenager Ralphie Smith who fell from Arbroath cliffs last month.
The 18-year-old has been missing for 10 days, and Police Scotland has called off its rescue efforts.
However, the UK Civil Air Patrol Scotland (UKCAPS) has since begun its own operation across north-east Fife and the Tay.
Archie Liggat, the chief pilot with UKCAPS, said they were committed to continuing to search for Ralphie and would scan the waters off Dundee, Angus and Fife throughout the week.
Mr Liggat said they weren’t there to help the emergency services, but rather the communities and families affected by a missing person.
He added: “We are only interested in humanitarian activities. We only assist to help the community – if the police or fire service benefit from it then that’s just a side effect.
“The family were very enthusiastic that we would continue the search.”
Two air searches conducted yesterday afternoon ended without any reportable sightings.
Most of the volunteer pilots in Scotland were previously in the RAF or police forces and have tens of thousands of hours’ flying experience.
However, Mr Liggat criticised Police Scotland for not working more closely with UKCAPS, claiming they wouldn’t even tell them when they had stopped their own search to allow the volunteers to move in.
He said: “We don’t have any kind of relationship with Police Scotland. We used to have a good relationship with the legacy forces but we haven’t made any progress with Police Scotland.
“We have better relationships with the Maritime Coastguard Agency. We stay out of their way until they are finished and then as soon as everyone else is done, we can carry on the search.
“Normally we would be guided on where to search by the police. For this, they wouldn’t give us any information so we are searching completely blind.”
Ralphie is believed to have fallen from Arbroath cliffs at around 1pm on Saturday February 25.
The family has since faced further tragedy when two of Ralphie’s relatives – Julie McCash and David Sorrie – died the day after his disappearance as they attended a family vigil for the teenager.