Sea rescue helicopter crew pick up a penguin or two
A FULL scale search-and-rescue operation launched amid fears a plane had plunged into the sea, was called off after the casualties turned out to be two inflatable penguins.
An elderly member of the public raised the alarm when he became convinced two large objects glinting off the coast of Aberdeenshire was the wreckage of a light aircraft. [>
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But, after a lifeboat team and rescue helicopter rushed to the scene, it was revealed the floating ’debris’ consisted of two 3ft balloons shaped like penguins. [>
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Victor Sutherland, who led the rescue as coxswain of Fraserburgh Lifeboat, described the incident as “very unusual.” [>
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He said: “I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before. We were called in after a man dialled 999 to say he was sure a plane had crash-landed in the sea. [>
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“But, when we got there. all we found were the two penguins. They were pretty large and could easily be seen from the shore. [>
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“I can understand why he thought they were debris. It was a false alarm, but with good intentions.” [>
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The alarm was raised around 3pm on Tuesday afternoon after the member of the public spotted a microlight aircraft flying off the coast at Rosehearty. [>
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When it vanished from view, he decided to call for help after spotting what he believed to be debris in the sea. [>
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The RNLI lifeboat team was dispatched along with a Sea King helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth and local fishing boats also rushed to the area. All of them were guided by the member of the public, who, it’s thought, was giving directions to the debris from his mobile phone. [>
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The group swept the sea for more than an hour, but after the penguins were discovered, the search was wound down. [>
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The elderly man who triggered the alert was with family members when the incident happened. Yesterday, he did not want to be identified or talk about the incident, but his cousin Jean Downie, 71, said she had apologised to the lifeboat team. [>
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She said: “My cousin is very embarrassed about the whole thing. We all got concerned about the plane and decided we had to do something.” [>
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The two penguins have now been “adopted” by the lifeboat team and given a home at their station. [>
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Despite the false alarm, Mr Sutherland, 36, said he did not want anyone to be put off from calling the coastguard. [>
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He said: “It would have been a costly exercise. But the man did the right thing. The aircraft disappeared and as far as he was concerned didn’t come up again. [>
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“Anything could have happened out there so it’s better to be safe than sorry.” [>
