Air Support Unit boss says job has PEOPLE AND REMEMBERING CRASH VICTIMS evolved from catching crooks to saving lives
involves missing people. These can range from a very young child going out of the house to a missing hillwalker to looking for someone who has perhaps been missing long-term.
“It can take a team of eight officers on the ground 12 hours to search an area that the helicopter can search in 20 minutes.
“Even if we don’t find the missing person, we can then rule that area out and direct resources elsewhere.
“Last Sunday we went to search for a chap who had fallen down a gully in Lanarkshire who had managed to phone his wife.
“Our helicopter has a thermal image camera, which picked up a tiny heat source that was so small the team almost discounted it but they did further investigations and found him so far down the gully that the officers on the ground would never have found him. The work we do absolutely saves lives.”
A close-knit team of just 13 police officers – 12 male and one female – make up the Air Support Unit, who work alongside civi l ian helicopter pilots from their heliport base on the banks of the River Clyde.
To date this year, their helicopter has been deployed for 476 hours, which includes 216 searches for missing people and 39 vehicle pursuits.
On every callout, one officer sits alongside the pilot, operating the camera which both records what it sees and has heat- seeking sensors. The second off icer regularly sits on what is known as the skid bar – which is outside the helicopter.
Inspector Whyte said: “Often people don’t realise that’s where the rear- seat observer sits. They put on a special harness and sit out on the skids, using what we call the Mark One eyeball – your eyes.
“It can get very cold and wet out there, especially in the winter, but it offers by far the best view.”
In the 30 years since police in Scotland have used helicopters, three officers and one civilian pilot have tragically lost their lives in crashes.
In January 1990 father- of-four Sergeant Malcolm Herd died when a police helicopter got caught in a
heavy snowstorm while on a search for armed robbers. It crashed into the side of a block of f lats at Eastwood Tol l , Newton Mearns.
In February 2002 a police hel icopt e r came down in a field in Ayrshire. All those on board had what w itnesses described as a “miraculous” escape.
In November 2013 a pol ice hel icopter crashed onto the roof of the Clutha pub in Glasgow, killing all three crew on board – police officers Kirsty Nelis and Tony Collins, pilot David Traill – and seven people in the bar.
Inspector Whyte said the shadow of the tragedies and the lives lost hangs over them all.
He said: “I’ve been doing this job for a long time and you probably think you’re invincible a wee bit and then that happens and you realise you’re not.
“We are such a small unit that all the staff are very close.
“I had finished duty at 4pm on the day of the Clutha tragedy and saw them when they came in for their night shift.
“Sadly, later that night my colleagues phoned and told me what had happened.
“It’s still with us all – you don’t ever forget it – but, from a work point of view, we had to try to move on and keep doing what we do.
“Everyone’s welfare was really important.
“I was worried we wouldn’t be able to get the rest of the team flying again – including the pilots – but we spent a couple of days just flying people again, getting them back into it.
“We resumed our f ly ing operations seven days after the crash, which was a testament to the guys and girls who work here.”
We’re such a small unit. All the staff are very close. The crash is still with us