November 15, 2020 • 10 mins
In this episode, I will be telling a side story about a very special Lifesaving flight that I was a part of, early on in my career with Bristow Helicopters.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Enid Otun (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to season two of if women were
meant to fly, the sky would bepink. Episode Five, a life
saving delivery. I'm Enid Otun.
In this episode, I will betelling a side story about a
very special lifesaving flightthat I was a part of early on in
my career with Bristowhelicopters.
(00:56):
During one of the courses that Iwas undertaking at Redhill early
on in my career with Bristowhelicopters, I had the
opportunity to bump into ahelicopter Captain that I knew.
He asked if I would like to comealong on a special flight. He
was scheduled to take it fromLondon to Wales that very
evening, I jumped at the chance,it would mean the opportunity to
fly with him and the S76Sikorsky executive helicopter.
(01:20):
I'd agreed for that reason onits own, but I was obviously
curious about the real purposefor the flight. Our mission was
to collect a set of heart andlungs from a London hospital,
and along with a medical team,fly the precious cargo to a
hospital in Merthyr Tydfil inWales. You hear about these life
(01:41):
saving operations from afar, butyou never expect to be a part of
this extraordinary process. Forme, at that time of my life and
career, it was an opportunity ofa lifetime, and a learning
experience like no other. Itreally felt like an honor to be
asked to assist.
I reported to the airfield thatnight at around 2100 hours,
(02:04):
(9pm) in order to attend thecrew briefing, it would be the
captain and myself acting asecond officer. I had a very
small amount of experience inhelicopters, so this would be a
steep learning curve. Thehelicopter was certified for
single crew operation, so for methis would be a training flight.
(02:25):
The mission was to departRedhill at approximately 2200
hours (10pm), enroute to aLondon hospital to pick up a
medical transplant team, alongwith the recently removed heart
and lungs from a donor patient.
All I knew about the donor wasthat they had experienced a
fatal accident and had been inthe donor program. The recipient
would be waiting at the MerthyrTydfil hospital for delivery of
(02:45):
the organs. For me, it would bea surreal experience, all of it.
It would be a night of firstsand the opportunity to meet some
amazing extraordinary people whosave lives. The captain and I
walked out to the S76 so that hecould familiarize me with the
aircraft and my duties. Thismajestic machine was still in
(03:08):
the hangar being prepared and italways took my breath away. No
matter how many times I saw it.
It was sleek and fast, well itwas in those days, and for some
reason I loved it. Up untilthen, my experience of
helicopters had been the Bell212 out in Nigeria. This
helicopter was the staple ofhelicopter operations out there
(03:31):
and in many other places aroundthe world supporting the oil
industry. This was the civilianvariant of the Huey family of
helicopters that were used inthe Vietnam War, and they were
nothing if not robust workhorsesthat took a beating. The S76 was
much more executive looking, andwas used as such. We briefed on
my duties, and on theunderstanding that if there was
(03:53):
anything I didn't understand, Iwas to ask. I would be assisting
with radio calls, our medicalteam and crew support. At
approximately 2200 hours,(10pm). We received the call to
position to the London Hospital,where we would wait to pick up
the medical team. They hadstarted the intricate operation
(04:14):
to remove the organs and therewas a finite time between
removal and transportation. Ourscheduled flight time was
approximately 25 minutes, and aswe started our engines, I felt
this rush of adrenaline as wellas a wave of sadness for the
donor who'd passed away. but indoing so, ensure that a stranger
(04:35):
would receive a new lease oflife, What a tragic time for the
donors family, but what a chancefor the recipient and I hoped
the donors family took comfortand pride in the way their loved
one had made such a difference.
(05:01):
Life and Death was a big thingfor me at that time, and I was
still processing myunderstanding of death amongst
other things. This had in partbeen brought on by the death of
my dear friend in a helicopteraccident just months earlier. I
didn't feel at that time that Iwas able to deal with his death,
even then, having experiencedmore than my fair share of it,
(05:21):
and in spite of the kind of jobthat I did, as a child. Some of
the West African rituals arounddeath and dying had been very
traumatizing to me. Some of mywider family may have found them
comforting, but I found themmacarbe and shocking. Of course,
in the case of my father'sdeath, I was also dealing with
powerful contradictory feelingsof grief and relief that he
(05:45):
could no longer hurt me. It wasa very tumultuous time. Now I
wrestled with a feeling that iffor some reason I was to lose my
life as part of my job, would Ihave done enough to justify my
existence on Earth, I guess Iwas being forced to face my own
mortality. And that was hard andfrightening. Deep I know, but
(06:06):
for some reason, it was a partof me that I couldn't accept or
contain. Perhaps,unsurprisingly, I was convinced
that I would die in a planecrash.
We landed 30 minutes later inLondon and shut down our engines
to await further instructionsfrom the team on the progress of
the operation. It came soonerthan expected, and we started up
our engines again in preparationfor the team's arrival. In all,
(06:29):
we had a medical team of four aswell as the special coolbox
which was holding the preciouscargo on board. I cross checked
the weight and balancecalculations, and made sure that
the team was secured for our onehour and 10 minute flight
Merthyr. It was now pastmidnight, and as we headed west,
the weather was starting todeteriorate as we edged closer
(06:49):
to Merthyr Tydfil. We would belanding on a hill just East of
the hospital where we would bemet by an ambulance and crew. 10
minutes out and we had startedto prepare for our arrival. This
would also be a first for me,and it was exciting. The landing
pad would be lit, which was justas well as the rain, wind and
low cloud was making arrivalssomewhat challenging. In the
(07:13):
distance, I spotted our landingarea. And as we continued our
approach, I could see a numberof people in the vicinity
awaiting our arrival. Thelanding was uneventful given the
deteriorating weather, and I wascompletely in awe of my
captain's amazing skill.
Although I knew he had done thismany, many times before. We shut
down and I exited to assist themedical team behind me. They
(07:33):
transfer the coolbox to thewaiting team, and we're gone in
an instant. The second car wasfor us as we had to wait to
bring the team back to London.
We were taken to the hospitalscanteen for a meal and a coffee
as well as a debrief. I hadlearned so much and was still
wide eyed, even though it wasnow inching past 2am. My
(07:57):
thoughts were with the unnamedpatient who was at this moment
waiting to receive a heart lungtransplant, and who would for us
remain nameless. Two hours laterat approximately 0400 (4am) we
lifted off the hillside, andtogether with the London team,
were heading back to our base inRedhill, where they would be
picked up by car. After a quickdebrief, I was dropped back at
(08:20):
the company hotel at about0530am. I was exhausted but
almost too tired to sleep. Idecided to stay awake and join
the rest of my colleagues for7am breakfast as they were not
to be missed. Even though I'donly been the most insignificant
cog in the wheel, I would alwaysbe eternally grateful for the
experience.
(08:41):
We read about it, we see it ontelevision, and these days we
live it alongside the patient insome of the most intrusive TV
footage, highlighting how farmodern technology has come. But
back in the 1980s it was lesslike that. And it brought home
to me the unsung heroes of thisprocess as they selflessly tried
(09:02):
to prolong human life.
Thank you for listening. Asalways, your reviews and
comments are very muchappreciated. Thank you to Lucy
Ashby for the editing of thisepisode. If you would like to
ask a question or make acomment. Please do so on our
social media sites. We're onInstagram, Facebook and Twitter
or send us an email. Our emailaddresses is
(09:26):
theskyispinkpilot@gmail.com orvisit our website
www.skyispink.co.ukIn the next episode, I meet the
Shell Training Captain andOperations Manager to discuss my
Bristow Shell Command, A smallceremony is held to award me my
four bars. I become a shellcaptain, the first woman to
(09:48):
achieve this in Nigeria and Icome up against the bureaucracy
that tries to take away what itjust gave you. Thank you And
goodbye.
Hello, and welcome to season two of if women were
meant to fly, the sky would bepink. Episode Five, a life
saving delivery. I'm Enid Otun.
In this episode, I will betelling a side story about a
very special lifesaving flightthat I was a part of early on in
my career with Bristowhelicopters.
(00:56):
During one of the courses that Iwas undertaking at Redhill early
on in my career with Bristowhelicopters, I had the
opportunity to bump into ahelicopter Captain that I knew.
He asked if I would like to comealong on a special flight. He
was scheduled to take it fromLondon to Wales that very
evening, I jumped at the chance,it would mean the opportunity to
fly with him and the S76Sikorsky executive helicopter.
(01:20):
I'd agreed for that reason onits own, but I was obviously
curious about the real purposefor the flight. Our mission was
to collect a set of heart andlungs from a London hospital,
and along with a medical team,fly the precious cargo to a
hospital in Merthyr Tydfil inWales. You hear about these life
(01:41):
saving operations from afar, butyou never expect to be a part of
this extraordinary process. Forme, at that time of my life and
career, it was an opportunity ofa lifetime, and a learning
experience like no other. Itreally felt like an honor to be
asked to assist.
I reported to the airfield thatnight at around 2100 hours,
(02:04):
(9pm) in order to attend thecrew briefing, it would be the
captain and myself acting asecond officer. I had a very
small amount of experience inhelicopters, so this would be a
steep learning curve. Thehelicopter was certified for
single crew operation, so for methis would be a training flight.
(02:25):
The mission was to departRedhill at approximately 2200
hours (10pm), enroute to aLondon hospital to pick up a
medical transplant team, alongwith the recently removed heart
and lungs from a donor patient.
All I knew about the donor wasthat they had experienced a
fatal accident and had been inthe donor program. The recipient
would be waiting at the MerthyrTydfil hospital for delivery of
(02:45):
the organs. For me, it would bea surreal experience, all of it.
It would be a night of firstsand the opportunity to meet some
amazing extraordinary people whosave lives. The captain and I
walked out to the S76 so that hecould familiarize me with the
aircraft and my duties. Thismajestic machine was still in
(03:08):
the hangar being prepared and italways took my breath away. No
matter how many times I saw it.
It was sleek and fast, well itwas in those days, and for some
reason I loved it. Up untilthen, my experience of
helicopters had been the Bell212 out in Nigeria. This
helicopter was the staple ofhelicopter operations out there
(03:31):
and in many other places aroundthe world supporting the oil
industry. This was the civilianvariant of the Huey family of
helicopters that were used inthe Vietnam War, and they were
nothing if not robust workhorsesthat took a beating. The S76 was
much more executive looking, andwas used as such. We briefed on
my duties, and on theunderstanding that if there was
(03:53):
anything I didn't understand, Iwas to ask. I would be assisting
with radio calls, our medicalteam and crew support. At
approximately 2200 hours,(10pm). We received the call to
position to the London Hospital,where we would wait to pick up
the medical team. They hadstarted the intricate operation
(04:14):
to remove the organs and therewas a finite time between
removal and transportation. Ourscheduled flight time was
approximately 25 minutes, and aswe started our engines, I felt
this rush of adrenaline as wellas a wave of sadness for the
donor who'd passed away. but indoing so, ensure that a stranger
(04:35):
would receive a new lease oflife, What a tragic time for the
donors family, but what a chancefor the recipient and I hoped
the donors family took comfortand pride in the way their loved
one had made such a difference.
(05:01):
Life and Death was a big thingfor me at that time, and I was
still processing myunderstanding of death amongst
other things. This had in partbeen brought on by the death of
my dear friend in a helicopteraccident just months earlier. I
didn't feel at that time that Iwas able to deal with his death,
even then, having experiencedmore than my fair share of it,
(05:21):
and in spite of the kind of jobthat I did, as a child. Some of
the West African rituals arounddeath and dying had been very
traumatizing to me. Some of mywider family may have found them
comforting, but I found themmacarbe and shocking. Of course,
in the case of my father'sdeath, I was also dealing with
powerful contradictory feelingsof grief and relief that he
(05:45):
could no longer hurt me. It wasa very tumultuous time. Now I
wrestled with a feeling that iffor some reason I was to lose my
life as part of my job, would Ihave done enough to justify my
existence on Earth, I guess Iwas being forced to face my own
mortality. And that was hard andfrightening. Deep I know, but
(06:06):
for some reason, it was a partof me that I couldn't accept or
contain. Perhaps,unsurprisingly, I was convinced
that I would die in a planecrash.
We landed 30 minutes later inLondon and shut down our engines
to await further instructionsfrom the team on the progress of
the operation. It came soonerthan expected, and we started up
our engines again in preparationfor the team's arrival. In all,
(06:29):
we had a medical team of four aswell as the special coolbox
which was holding the preciouscargo on board. I cross checked
the weight and balancecalculations, and made sure that
the team was secured for our onehour and 10 minute flight
Merthyr. It was now pastmidnight, and as we headed west,
the weather was starting todeteriorate as we edged closer
(06:49):
to Merthyr Tydfil. We would belanding on a hill just East of
the hospital where we would bemet by an ambulance and crew. 10
minutes out and we had startedto prepare for our arrival. This
would also be a first for me,and it was exciting. The landing
pad would be lit, which was justas well as the rain, wind and
low cloud was making arrivalssomewhat challenging. In the
(07:13):
distance, I spotted our landingarea. And as we continued our
approach, I could see a numberof people in the vicinity
awaiting our arrival. Thelanding was uneventful given the
deteriorating weather, and I wascompletely in awe of my
captain's amazing skill.
Although I knew he had done thismany, many times before. We shut
down and I exited to assist themedical team behind me. They
(07:33):
transfer the coolbox to thewaiting team, and we're gone in
an instant. The second car wasfor us as we had to wait to
bring the team back to London.
We were taken to the hospitalscanteen for a meal and a coffee
as well as a debrief. I hadlearned so much and was still
wide eyed, even though it wasnow inching past 2am. My
(07:57):
thoughts were with the unnamedpatient who was at this moment
waiting to receive a heart lungtransplant, and who would for us
remain nameless. Two hours laterat approximately 0400 (4am) we
lifted off the hillside, andtogether with the London team,
were heading back to our base inRedhill, where they would be
picked up by car. After a quickdebrief, I was dropped back at
(08:20):
the company hotel at about0530am. I was exhausted but
almost too tired to sleep. Idecided to stay awake and join
the rest of my colleagues for7am breakfast as they were not
to be missed. Even though I'donly been the most insignificant
cog in the wheel, I would alwaysbe eternally grateful for the
experience.
(08:41):
We read about it, we see it ontelevision, and these days we
live it alongside the patient insome of the most intrusive TV
footage, highlighting how farmodern technology has come. But
back in the 1980s it was lesslike that. And it brought home
to me the unsung heroes of thisprocess as they selflessly tried
(09:02):
to prolong human life.
Thank you for listening. Asalways, your reviews and
comments are very muchappreciated. Thank you to Lucy
Ashby for the editing of thisepisode. If you would like to
ask a question or make acomment. Please do so on our
social media sites. We're onInstagram, Facebook and Twitter
or send us an email. Our emailaddresses is
(09:26):
theskyispinkpilot@gmail.com orvisit our website
www.skyispink.co.ukIn the next episode, I meet the
Shell Training Captain andOperations Manager to discuss my
Bristow Shell Command, A smallceremony is held to award me my
four bars. I become a shellcaptain, the first woman to
(09:48):
achieve this in Nigeria and Icome up against the bureaucracy
that tries to take away what itjust gave you. Thank you And
goodbye.
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