The volunteer RNLI crew at Porthcawl were paged by HM Coastguard following reports of a light aircraft in the sea between the lifeboat station and the Seabank Hotel at Porthcawl. The Atlantic 85 lifeboat launched to assist.
One person was onboard and was taken into the care of coastguards and ambulance crews.
Three RNLI lifeboats were involved in ensuring the aircraft was secure and did not become a danger to navigation. Porthcawl’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat was assisted by the station’s D-class lifeboat and D-class lifeboat from Port Talbot. All lifeboats offered assistance and returned to their respective stations just after 10.30am.
Chris Page, RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer at Porthcawl says:
‘RNLI volunteer crews never quite know what to expect when the call for help comes. We are trained to deal with every eventuality, but were incredibly relieved to arrive on scene to find the pilot was able to be safely recovered. This was a real multi-agency effort between the fire service, police, ambulance service, the Coastguard and the RNLI.’