Tin foil to the rescue

SHETLAND coastguard’s rescue helicopter Oscar Charlie was called out in the early hours of Friday morning to fly 120 miles south east of Sumburgh after a Mayday call was sent out by colleagues in Aberdeen.

An emergency beacon on board the Banff-registered white fish boat Shaloura had been triggered around 4am, but the crew were unable to switch it off.

When the helicopter arrived at the scene to discover there was no emergency, they were able to advise the crew that wrapping tin foil around the device would prevent it from sending out a signal.

The incident took place in the Shetland coastguard’s new expanded area of operations, which now stretches from Brora to Cape Wrath, expanding the area of responsibility from 36,000 to 50,400 square miles.