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Two RAF Tornadoes crash in Moray Firth

Scott

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This has been leading the news over here, naturally.

The news this morning is saying that they are not in the air again searching because of fog and they are also admitting the likelihood of finding further survivors might be limited due to pilots not wearing survival suits at this time of year.

The general placement for the incident the BBC has been using during telecasts pretty much puts them smack in the middle of the Beatrice field, which I was out to in December and January - you might be able to see land but she's a rough patch of water. The weather has been more horrible than normal here the last few days with dozens of our chopper flights delayed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-18700794

The search for two British air crew, missing after two RAF Tornado jets crashed in the Moray Firth, is set to resume.

The Ministry of Defence said the search was suspended on Tuesday evening and will restart "when the weather clears".

The Tornado GR4s, which each have a crew of two, were from RAF Lossiemouth, in the north east of Scotland.

Two of the four air crew were airlifted to hospital in Inverness but there are no details about their condition.

The Ministry of Defence said it was making an assessment on when it can resume its search. Visibility is said to be poor in the area.

Police and the Coastguard have been patrolling shorelines and urged the public to contact them immediately if they spot any debris.

Aberdeen Coastguard was alerted to the incident at about 13:50 BST on Tuesday, after reports that the jets came down about 25 miles south of Wick.

The RNLI said 15 volunteers manned the Wick, Invergordon and Buckie lifeboats, which were used to search for the missing personnel.

The boats headed for the Beatrice oil field area, supported by a helicopter from Stornoway in the Western Isles.

Wreckage from one of the aircraft was collected from the water and transported back to shore on lifeboat Buckie - the location of the second aircraft is not yet known.

Lossiemouth station commander Gp Capt Ian Gale said: "The circumstances remain uncertain, but clearly this is a very serious incident.

"The thoughts from everyone here are with the families and friends of those involved."

There have been previous accidents involving RAF Tornado aircraft.

In January 2011, an engine fire caused a Tornado GR4 based at RAF Lossiemouth to crash into the sea off north west Scotland - the crew in that incident managed to eject to safety.

The following month, a Tornado crew was forced to eject after experiencing problems landing at the same base - there were not thought to have been serious injuries.

The supersonic Tornado GR4 attack aircraft has seen decades of RAF service, being used in various military operations that include in Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and most recently Libya.
 
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