Wednesday 30 January 2019
Emergency response to plane incident
Thank you for allowing the Committee for Home Affairs the opportunity to give this statement.
As Members of this Assembly will be well aware there was last week a desperately sad incident involving the loss of an aircraft with two people on board.
First and foremost I would wish to offer our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the pilot and his passenger. The depth of their distress is hard to imagine.
On behalf of the Committee, and no doubt the whole of the States, I would also wish to thank the staff of the emergency services and various other agencies involved who worked, and in some areas are continuing to work, tirelessly in an effort to locate the aircraft and those on board.
In particular there was a tremendous effort by Guernsey and Alderney Coastguard, the Police, the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre, Channel Island Air Search, the Guernsey and Alderney lifeboats, Jersey Coastguard, CROSSMA Jobourg and the UK Coastguard from their National Maritime Operations Centre and Dover. These, and other individuals and teams, including the Brecqhou helicopter, worked long and hard to deal with this incident in connection with which there was significant international media interest.
Although it does not appear the outcome will be what all had initially hoped for, there is widespread recognition that the response of the Bailiwick's rescue and response teams was excellent, many of whom were volunteers working long hours and we thank them all for their time and commitment, as we know most of the volunteers couldn't do this without the support of their employers.
It's been a difficult and sad time, I hope our thanks today goes some way to show our appreciation to everyone involved trying to locate the aircraft with two people onboard.
Thank you Sir
