In pictures: Prince William in BBC's Helicopter Rescue
- Published
For the first time a television series captures the Duke of Cambridge, or Flt Lt Wales as he is known within the RAF, at work as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot.
Last year, the two RAF search and rescue bases covering Wales were scrambled 566 times, making them the busiest in Britain, with more than 470 people being rescued.
Aled Rhys Jones, one of the shooting directors on Helicopter Rescue, followed the RAF Search and Rescue team. Before he set foot on the aircraft, he had to undergo training which involved trying to find his way out of a mock helicopter cabin which was immersed in cold water.
This series follows the RAF's duty search and rescue crews from RAF Valley on Anglesey, and RAF Chivenor in Devon, as they are scrambled to locations across the country against a backdrop of picturesque views of the Welsh landscape.
In one of the rescues featured on the first programme, Prince William is the aircraft captain as the crew is called to an old slate quarry in Blaenau Ffestiniog, where a local boy has fallen off an old railway bridge onto rocks.
Winchman and paramedic Master Aircrewman Richard Taylor describes how treacherous rescue work can be, especially when winching an injured person aboard on a stretcher. "It's a challenging procedure,” he says, "and inherently dangerous to put a man on a very thin piece of wire, hanging underneath nine tons of helicopter that's susceptible to turbulence and problems itself."
Along the coastline and up in the mountains of Wales, the RAF's yellow Sea King helicopters are a familiar sight. Helicopter Rescue is on BBC One Wales on Monday nights at 20:30 BST from 15 April and will be available on the iPlayer.
- Published28 March 2013