Moate pilot honoured with a bravery award

A Moate pilot who helped to save the lives of seven fishermen stranded in 12-metre sea swells off the Cork coast was honoured for his bravery at the National Bravery Awards last week.

Aaron Hyland from Hall Road in Moate, was one of a crew of four on board the CHC Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 117, which braved Force 9 gales and rapidly deteriorating conditions to attempt the daring rescue which led to all seven fishermen on the stricken fishing vessel being brought safely to shore on March 27 last.

The citation for the four-member Rescue 117 crew stated that “without doubt the lives of the seven fishermen on board the fishing vessel were saved due to the collective bravery and physical efforts” of the Rescue 117 crew.

Aaron Hyland said “you always remember those whose lives are saved” because search and rescue missions very often end with fatalities.

“To be involved in a mission which resulted in seven lives being saved is very memorable for all the right reasons,” he says.

Aaron, who now lives in Galway along with his wife Brenda and three young children, Ryan (8), Ben (5) and Aimee (3), is a pilot employed by CHC, which operates five aircraft in Ireland as part of the Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Service.

Although he is based in Shannon, he was covering a shift at the Waterford Coast Guard base on March 27 last when a request came in for the crew to assist in the rescue of a fishing vessel that had lost power 70 nautical miles west of Bantry Bay.

Aaron said on his drive to Waterford from Shannon that day weather conditions were “pretty poor”.

By the time, he boarded the CHC Rescue 117 helicopter as Captain along with pilot Ronan Flanagan; winch operator Adrian O’Hara and winchman Sarah Courtney the weather was “atrocious” with fading light, high winds and a very heavy sea swell.

The daring rescue took place 70 nautical miles west of Bantry Bay, with all seven fishermen from the stricken fishing vessel being successfully evacuated and brought to safety in force 9 gales and sea swells of up to 12 metres.

Winchman Ms Courtney was singled out for special credit at the awards. She was presented with a silver medal with the citation remarking that “her individual bravery and physical effort in such arduous conditions showed her to be an individual of immense capability and significant courage”.

Aaron, who is son of Noreen (Dennehy) and Declan Hyland, says he “always wanted to be a pilot” when he was growing up in Moate, but he did not obtain the necessary qualifications to apply for a position with the Irish Air Corps. He decided instead to become an electrician and completed his training to become a pilot while working as an electrician at the same time.

The father-ofthree has been working for the past 16 years as a search and rescue pilot, and spent some years working in the North Sea and Scotland before returning to Ireland to work as a Line Captain with CHC 11 years ago.

His wife, Brenda, had to endure an anxious wait to hear from her husband on the day of the Bantry Bay fishing vessel rescue mission. “She hadn’t heard from me for a number of hours, so it was an anxious day for her, but she was relieved and delighted when she heard that we had managed to save the lives of all seven fishermen,” he says.

Aaron likes to return to Moate, where he lived until he was 18 years old, as often as he can to catch up with his old school friends from his time in the Carmelite College and in the Marist in Athlone.

He collected his National Bravery Award on crutches last week having broken his leg in what he described as “an unfortunate accident” some weeks earlier. However, it hasn’t stopped him from working as he is currently the Deputy Manager of Flight Operations with CHC which is an office-based job.

The Irish Coast Guard nominated Aaron Hyland and his fellow crew members on Rescue 117 for a bravery award, and he said he was “hugely honoured and humbled” to collect his award.

“We all work very closely together, and we never know what we are going to face when we go in to work a 24-hour shift,” he says. “Not all of our missions have a happy ending, but when we can save a life it is a very rewarding outcome for all of us.”

The National Bravery Awards were set up in 1947 to recognise those who risk their lives to save others.