Hampshire RAF team ready for anything this Christmas
An RAF Chinook is on 'national stand-by' at RAF Odiham near Basingstoke
A team from RAF odiham near Basingstoke will spend Christmas on stand-by ready to get airborne to help in the case of a civil emergency.
A Chinook transport helicopter is ready to fly into action at the request of the Government throughout the year and Christmas is no exception.
There are two squadrons that share the duty at Odiham and this year it's the turn of 27 Squadron.
Flight Lieutenant Kevin Robertson will spend Christmas with his family but knows at any time he could be called into action. He's one of two crew on the giant helicopter who suppport the pilots.
He said: "It's (Christmas Day) very similar to most years but without the alcohol and the additional thought process of what would you do if you got a call out right now and are you best placed to get into work as soon as you possibly can.
"Over the Christmas period I'll be the number 2 crewman which means I'll be heavily involved in the planning with the aircraft captain to discuss the performance, how heavy the aircraft will be how many seats will we have have we got all the correct safety equipment we'll need for the passengers we might be tasked with.
"So as the number 2 crewman I'll be heavily involved with the planning phase while the other crewman will be heavily involved with loading the aircraft and working with the engineeers and mechanics to make sure the aircraft gets out onto the line and is loaded ready to start as soon as myself and the captain arrive."
One of those engineers is corporal (avionics) Jake Gallagher he and his colleagues must make sure the helicopter is ready at a moment's notice.
He said: "My day to day life over the Christmas period is quite steady, we normally come in for an hour maintain the aircraft get the aircraft ready each day so that it is clear if there is a 'shout' so we're clear to fly and if there are any issues we can fix them before there's a 'shout' it's all pre-emptive."
Call outs on national stand-by over Christmas are rare but Jake and his engineering colleagues can find themselves travelling with the helicopter if it's going to be away from Hampshire for an extended period.
Most national stand-by call outs involve supporting the civil authorities including when the Whaley Bridge dam needed shoring up with aggregate in 2019, and tragically many years before that when the Lockerbie disaster occurred just before Christmas in 1988.