Jersey pilots saved by RNLI thank charity

Pilots Paul Clifford and Duncan Laisney were saved by the RNLI after crashing their aircraft into the sea off Jersey's coast in 2022

Two pilots that crash landed their aircraft off Jersey's south-east coast have thanked the RNLI whose volunteers rescued them.

Paul Clifford and Duncan Laisney were rescued by the service from a blow up life raft in November 2022.

The RNLI said the volunteer lifeboat crew battled through 6 to 9ft (2 to 3m) swells, rain and wind.

Mr Clifford said if the RNLI had not been there to rescue them, it would have been "a different story".

"I don't know of anyone else who's been in that situation and survived."

'Unlikely to survive'

Mr Clifford described how himself and Mr Laisney did "all we could" to get the engine going, which had lost power, but had no choice but to ditch the plane.

He said: "We knew it was incredibly risky and we were unlikely to survive.

"The RNLI do a fantastic job, I'm here today because of what they did for us, they were there, they were fantastic."

Ports of Jersey's pilot boat, three RNLI lifeboats, Channel Islands Air Search and a French rescue helicopter attended the scene.

Paul Clifford said he did not know of "anyone else who's been in that situation and survived"

Alex Scott, volunteer helm on St Helier's inshore RNLI lifeboat, said the "state of the sea" made it hard for the team to locate the men.

He said: "We didn't get to see the life raft until we were very close by, just because of the state of the sea, it was quite lumpy and it's a very small object, very low down in the water so we were almost right on it before we could see it."

Mr Scott said it was a "great feeling to have been able to help someone", and was "ultimately why we've all volunteered and why we do what we do".

The RNLI released its statistics for 2022, which found its services were used 131 times across the Channel Islands, saving five lives.

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