The Royal Navy’s duty crew of HMS Gannet’s Search and Rescue unit responded to a record-breaking total of 447 call-outs in 2009.

Historically, no helicopter Search and Rescue unit has achieved 400 call-outs in a year, but, illustrating the high tempo under which the Prestwick-based unit operates, they beat their record-breaking total of 382 in 2008 by 65 sorties, or an average of more than one a week.

Over the course of 2009 a total of 378 people have been helped out of whatever predicament they found themselves in.

Source and picture: MOD UK