Emergency services have been scrambled to an incident involving an RAF helicopter in Snowdonia, north Wales.
A spokesman for North Wales Police confirmed they are dealing with “an incident involving a helicopter” in the Yr Aran area.
The Ministry of Defence said the Griffin helicopter had a technical issue and caught fire after making a ‘precautionary’ landing.
“A Griffin training helicopter safely completed a precautionary landing in Snowdonia this afternoon following a technical issue,” a spokesperson said.
“All five people on board exited safely, subsequently the aircraft caught fire.”
A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at about 1.50pm to reports of an incident in the Snowdonia area.
“The Wales Air Ambulance has been sent to respond and is currently in attendance at the scene.”
An air exclusion zone has been put in place.
Prince William trained at RAF Shawbury and did an advance course on Griffin helicopters.
He served with the Search and Rescue Force while based at RAF Valley in Anglesey.
William served a three-year tour with the SAR and during his time qualified as an operational captain, taking overall control of his Sea King helicopter.
The Duke – known as Flight Lieutenant Wales – flew 156 search and rescue operations, resulting in 149 people being rescued.
What is the Griffin HT1?
According to the RAF website, the Griffin HT1 is used as an advanced flying-training helicopter at the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury near Shrewsbury and the Search and Rescue Training Unit at RAF Valley on the island of Anglesey.
As well as pilot training, the Griffin is used for crewman training – “a very important and integral part of multi-crew operations”, the website says.
It adds that it is especially useful for procedural instrument-flying training and practising “complex emergency-handling techniques”.
