One flight from Penzance to Scilly on Tuesday, 24 April, went more eventfully than anyone would have thought. Half way across the channel, the helicopter started shaking a lot more than usual. One of the rotor-blades’ safety tape had come loose in the poor weather, which made the ?centrifugal? forces unbalanced, shaking the helicopter wildly. The pilots had to decend to sea-level incase the aircraft became worse, as they did not know what the fault was at the time, and the pilot might have to make an emergancy landing, ditching in the sea. Of the full flight, 26 passengers, only one was a regular flier, and was the only one to notice the unfamiliar circumstances. On the islands, the emergancy services were alerted. Brintel’s aircraft, Foxtrot-Juliet, then made it to the island, ascending up the cliff face to get level with the airport. Rector Julian, from the local Church of England churches, said that the helicopter was shaking a lot, making it hard to make a landing, because the blades were not true. Rector Julian was on stand-by to aid the ?walking-wounded?, should an accident arise. The helicopter landed and they fitted a rotor blade up at St Mary’s airfield. They flew back without passengers.
