Both Bridlington and Flamborough RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews were called into action to assist a fishing boat after receiving a distress call about a man overboard in Bridlington Bay.
The Bridlington RNLI team was alerted by the HM Coastguard at 2.11pm on Monday, January 13, with the Flamborough crew also being dispatched at 2.14pm for the same incident. The mayday call reported that a person had fallen from a 21-meter fishing vessel 10 miles east of Bridlington.
Bridlington’s all-weather lifeboat (ALB) ‘Antony Patrick Jones’, manned by a six-person volunteer crew, and Flamborough’s Atlantic lifeboat ‘Elizabeth Jane Palmer’ with a three-person crew, launched immediately and reached the casualty vessel within 15 minutes. Meanwhile, the HM Coastguard rescue helicopter had also arrived on scene.
Once all search and rescue services had arrived, it was confirmed that the casualty had been retrieved from the water and was back aboard the vessel but was showing signs of hypothermia. Two volunteers from Bridlington RNLI boarded the fishing vessel to provide assistance, along with the HM Coastguard paramedic/winchman.
After assessing the casualty and determining he was stable enough to be moved, he was airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary for further checks.
Once the aircraft had departed, both the Bridlington and Flamborough lifeboats were stood down by the HM Coastguard, returning to their bases. Bridlington RNLI arrived back at the harbour at 4.06pm.
Flamborough RNLI Atlantic lifeboat Elizabeth Jane Palmer
(Image: RNLI/Mike Milner)
Bridlington Lifeboat ‘Antony Patrick Jones’ in Bridlington harbour Bridlington after Man Overboard tasking
(Image: RNLI/Mike Milner)
Andy Rodgers, coxswain of the Bridlington RNLI Lifeboat said, “This was an excellent launch with the lifeboat hitting the water in 19 minutes from receiving the mayday call. We made excellent speed to the scene, joining HM Coastguard helicopter and Flamborough RNLI within minutes of each other.
“Thankfully, the casualty had already been recovered and after being assessed and treated by the HM Coastguard paramedic, we placed two crew members onboard the vessel to assist with the transfer of casualty to the helicopter, before getting flown to hospital for further checks. This was a first class multi agency response and hopefully the casualty will make a full recovery from what started out as a very worrying initial callout. Once again, a fantastic effort by all the team, it has been a busy couple of weeks for us at Bridlington RNLI.”
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