A History of RAF Saxa Vord

Saturday, 11 September 2010

AOCs 1989 – AVM Sir William Wratten

The Inspecting Officer for the AOCs Inspection in 1989 was AVM Sir William Wratten who was later promoted to become the AOC in C Strike Command, The Inspection took place on 18 May and the Commanding Officer was Sqn Ldr Peter Hunter.

Footnote: The following is an extract from Wikipedia

In 1995, following the Chinook Helicopter Crash on the Mull of Kintyre, Wratten was the Senior Reviewing Officer of the Board of Inquiry which had failed to find a cause of the accident. Despite a lack of Accident Data Recorder and cockpit voice recorder, Wratten concluded that pilot error was the cause of the crash and found the pilots guilty of gross negligence[1]. Following a subsequent Scottish Fatal Accident Inquiry and House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report, a House of Lords Select Committee was appointed to consider all the circumstances surrounding the crash and unanimously concluded "that the reviewing officers were not justified in finding that negligence on the part of the pilots caused the aircraft to crash".[2] However, to date (Jan 08) the MoD has refused to alter the verdicts.
Footnote #2
I notice that the current coalitiion government have decided to have the incident independently reviewed by an experienced legal expert.
Footnote #3 - 13 Jul 11
The Minister of Defence today announced in the House of Commons that the verdict of the Board of Inquiry was being overturned. A link to the Daily Telegraph coverage on their website is below:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/8628702/Chinook-pilots-did-not-cause-fatal-helicopter-crash.html

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

Wednesday, 8 September 2010

The Baltasound Hotel and the Storm of 91/92

Tom Ellis (ex Saxa 61/63 and again 65/66) and his wife Wilma ran the Baltasound Hotel from 1984 to 1995. They also ran Hagdale Lodge which could provide 50 standby beds for offshore oilworkers. During this period the oil industry was very important to the economy of Unst. I’m grateful to Tom & Wilma for the information and pictures below. An earlier section of the blog describes some of the implications of the North Sea oil boom for the local community:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2010/01/unst-airstrip.html
With the destruction of Hagdale Lodge in the New Year Storms 91/92 it became imperative that suitable accommodation be found quickly and installed on Unst as soon as possible. This need was increased by Chevrons plans to commence a major overhaul of 3 platforms in the Ninian Field. After evaluating the alternatives Tom & Wilma placed an order with Pinelog Ltd in Derbyshire for 6 high quality wooden lodges, designed to meet the worst the Shetland climate could offer. An important element in placing the order was the speed at which the work could be completed – from order to commissioning in 10 weeks.
There were difficulties to be overcome such as the transport of the lodges from Derbyshire to Unst and the need to obtain planning permission quickly. However, after plenty of hard work the capacity of the Hotel was increased from 22 to 90 beds in less than a year. The pictures below tell some of this story. (Left click on pictures to enlarge).