Small hand torches were the only ‘night vision’ equipment available during air rescue missions before the deployment of a state-of-the-art helicopter, according to Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.

Speaking at the inauguration of the first of two twin-engine AW139 helicopters, Dr Mallia said yesterday that without the new equipment the Armed Forces of Malta would have remained unable to conduct night air rescue missions.

“At night we could not rescue people using our own helicopters, can you imagine?

“We had to ask the Italian rescue team to go instead. This just isn’t good enough,” he said.

The AFM had taken a risk when, last February, it rescued two divers who were being thrown against the cliffs off Dwejra in the dead of night.

The small Alouette helicopter used for the mission was not best suited for such operations in the dark or when strong winds prevailed, which made the gale force conditions during that particular mission especially treacherous.

Mark Cassar, the pilot who had conducted the daring operation, told Times of Malta the rescue crew was staring out into pitch darkness trying to locate the two divers in force six winds and crashing waves.

The aircraft’s single engine was not strong enough to deal with the turbulent weather either, he said.

It was sunset and at that point we shouldn’t have been going out but it was life or death

“We couldn’t see a thing. In the end, we were lucky to find the divers as one of us detected a faint cry for help coming from along the coast,” Warrant Officer Cassar added, pointing to the electronic winch that had lifted the two divers to safety.

He said he had decided to go ahead with the dangerous mission because the other option of sending out an Italian rescue team would have taken an extra two hours.

“It was sunset and, at that point, we shouldn’t have been going out but it was life or death, in this case both for those that had to be rescued and also the rescue team,” he said.

The poor night visibility had affected other missions too and the pilot recounted how he had once nearly landed a helicopter on a vehicle in a car park close to a rescue site.

AFM Commander Geoffrey Curmi said the need for new equipment had been long felt.

In fact, a 2007 national security report had highlighted the armed forces’ inability to conduct helicopter rescues in unfavourable conditions.

The new helicopters, costing about €15 million each, are fitted with tailor-made rescue equipment and have double the range of the single-engine Alouettes, meaning that they can fly up to 120 kilometres from the Luqa base.

Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg said the aircraft would be housed in a new hangar which, along with other EU-funded projects, meant the AFM had utilised more than half the available boarder control funds.

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