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Nine years to the day that the Guernsey based Channel Island Air Search crew crash-landed in Jersey the new crew were in action on another rescue mission.
During the evening of 3 November 2013, James Ridout, Jason Hobbs, Lynne Jennings, John Hardie, and James Ingrouille were called out to help with a rescue in Jersey after two fishermen had been reported missing.
All five escaped the accident without any serious injury physically, while the two fishermen were also rescued.
The impact mentally and emotionally helped the air search crew on the night forge lifelong friendships though.
The crash landing in an area near Devils Hole left the plane - known as the Lion's Pride - a write-off but all five crew-members walked away from the wreckage.
An investigation into the cause of the accident found an issue with the plane's fuel reserve tank.
A BBC report of the 2013 incident cites the Air Accidents Investigation Branch which said it had discovered the cockpit controls which select the fuel supply for the engines were set for it to run off the reserve, or tip, tanks rather than the main fuel tanks.
The report said the tip tanks were empty having not been refilled from a search the previous day, while the main fuel tanks were almost full. The AAIB found that fuel checks were too simple without any detail recorded - merely establishing that there was fuel in the tanks, rather than confirming how much was present.
Pilot, Mr Hardie, 65 at the time of the accident, managed to land the plane in an area near the Devils Hole on Jersey's north east coast. The plane came to a rest against a tree, with no injury to himself or the crew.
Poor weather conditions on the night are said to have contributed to the accident.
Pictured: The Jersey Evening Post called it a "double storm miracle" when both fishermen and all five air search crew survived the night.
The air search plane was 30 years old at the time of the crash and the plane was dismantled and deemed unfit for repair. A fundraising appeal launched following the accident saw a new plane brought into service.
The new plane was commissioned in 2014 but it was not brought into service until 2019 after a number of delays to its launch.
The Channel Islands Air Search team suffered another incident in late 2021, after the new plane suffered wing damage on Jersey's airport runway. The plane struck another light aircraft while taxiing.
This meant the CIAS was out of action until spring this year when it returned to service.
Pictured: All images provided by James Ridout.
Archive newspaper copies provided by the Jersey Evening Post:
CIAS Channel Island Air Search Jersey crash 2013 JEP archive 1
CIAS Channel Island Air Search Jersey crash 2013 JEP archive 2
CIAS Channel Island Air Search Jersey crash 2013 JEP archive 3
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