A volunteer crew from a north-east port teamed up with the coastguard to rehearse a daring rescue on the Banffshire coast last night.
The joint exercise between the Macduff RNLI lifeboat team and the coastguard offshore rescue helicopter was staged in Banff Bay.
The Macduff Atlantic 85 lifeboat, which is launched from a crane in the town’s harbour, is crewed by four volunteers at any one time.
Last night the crew practiced forming up underneath a moving helicopter, and then allowing the aircraft to take up a position above the vessel to begin winching a casualty.
Senior helmsman Chassey Findlay said regular joint training operations could mean the difference between life and death in the event of a real disaster.
He said: “You’ve got to be able to work with other agencies and other people. You need to know how their equipment works and it helps them understand how our equipment works. It’s about working together.
“It is important to expose new crew members to this sort of thing – the noise, the downdraft of the helicopter and a whole lot of other factors make the job very challenging.”
Mr Findlay added that the team was also focusing on promoting sea safety in the community.
“I think the message is getting across,” he said. “We have seen a reduction in what we do over the last 20 years. We don’t get the silly stuff anymore, people are more educated and aware and the jobs we do go to seem to be more serious.”
A spokesman for Aberdeen coastguard said: “It was a good exercise, it’s always good to practice with the helicopters who we work with on a regular basis.”
Macduff councillor Mark Findlater, chairman of the local safety group, praised the town’s lifeboat volunteers.
He said: “It’s great they’re doing this joint exercise and the more training they get the better.
“We are blessed with the team we have here in Macduff.”
Last month the Macduff lifeboat joined its Portsoy counterpart in aiding a classic fishing boat which lost power following the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.
The crew of the 79-year-old Sovereign were able to make a distress call before losing power, and the RNLI volunteers towed the boat back to port for repairs.