The tragedy of losing two French visitors in unexpectedly heavy seas in Xwejni Bay has led the Home Affairs Ministry to carry out an inquiry into the rescue efforts made. According to the Times of Malta report (August 14), it has satisfied itself that nothing more could have been done than what was desperately carried out by those trying to rescue the two victims. That is almost certainly true, but the ministry seems easily persuaded that improvements to the rescue services themselves are not required.
The best that the Home Affairs Ministry can suggest to help overseas visitors be aware of the risks of swimming in unsafe seas off Malta is an “Ask A Local” policy, placing the onus for giving visitors advice about where and when to swim onto the Maltese people themselves. The ministry clearly overlooks the fact that last year a British visitor ignored warnings given to him by a young Maltese gentleman not to go near the sea in similar dangerous conditions to that of last Saturday, and paid the price for doing so with his life.
But what clearly stands out about this latest tragedy is that it took far too long to get a search and rescue (SAR) helicopter onto the scene. Forty minutes from the alarm being given to the time the SAR helicopter arrived on the scene is what I have read being quoted in this newspaper.
The Home Affairs Ministry does not consider this a factor. Well, the obvious factor is that the SAR helicopters operated by the Armed Forces of Malta Air Wing are not up to task if they take 40 minutes to reach Xwejni from their airport base.
According to the AFM, the SAR helicopter had to fly directly into 20-25 knot northwesterly head winds, slowing the helicopter’s progress significantly. The type of helicopter the AFM operates is the French-built Alouette III, a 1960s generation helicopter 50 years old in design. Its top speed is 210kmph (130mph-ish). The AFM Alouette would have been flying at less than that speed due to the crew and equipment it would have been carrying. Battering into head winds hitting it full in the face would have slowed it down to something like 130kmph.
The obvious conclusion that the Home Affairs Ministry surely needs to take on board is that the AFM needs new generation SAR helicopters. The Italian AgustaWestland AW139 series can reach speeds in excess of 300kmph and is replacing the Alouette III class of helicopter with armed services and government agencies around the world. It, or a similar helicopter design, will suit the AFM today and considerably reduce the time taken to reach an emergency, even in strong winds.
It seems a tragic irony that a 50-year-old French-built rescue helicopter could not reach two French visitors caught in heavy seas in time.