Saturday, October 16, 2010

"Chaps, I think I've been hit - but I'm OK." - BRIT PILOT COOL UNDER FIRE


The casual reader of this blog will catch that I am a huge fan of the Brits....They are and continue to be our best Allies against the dark forces around the world..... I hung out at Camp Bastion with the Brits which was right next to Camp Leatherneck and always enjoyed the interaction between the Brits & US forces.

Here is a story about the stuff our British Comrades-in-Arms are made of - A British Helicopter Pilot takes a shot to the face and still manages to bring his Chinook back safely on a Medivac rescue Mission.


Jolly Good Show. Brilliant stuff. Brilliant.


Chaps, I’ve been hit in the face but I’m okay
By DUNCAN LARCOMBE
Defence Editor UKSUN

Published: 05 Jun 2010

A HERO helicopter pilot has told how he flew six badly-injured soldiers to safety in Afghanistan after he was shot in the HEAD while at the controls.


The last of TEN bullets to hit his aircraft slammed through the windscreen and into Flight Lieutenant Ian Fortune's helmet.

He recalled how - as blood streamed down his face - he told the crew: "Chaps, I think I've just been hit but I'm OK."

The round struck a steel fitting on his headgear and ripped through the top of it shattering two visors before embedding itself in the cockpit wall.

Flt Lt Fortune's face was peppered with bullet fragments and a shard of twisted Perspex gouged a two-inch wound in his left cheek. But he bravely nursed his badly-damaged Chinook back to base.

The helicopter - with 17 on board - was hit by a burst of automatic fire.

Flt Lt Fortune, 28, of Kingston, Surrey said: "It felt as if I had been hit in the face with a plank.

"I opened my eyes to see big cracks across my visor. I could smell burning. There was blood splattered on my visor.

"Then I saw a bullet hole in the windscreen.

"I glanced into the cockpit mirror and saw the state of my helmet with blood pouring down my face. I checked myself out and realised I was fine."

He and his crew picked up six wounded and one soldier killed in a 14-hour firefight near Nad-e Ali in Helmand Province.

After flying back to Camp Bastion, Flt Lt Fortune required 12 stitches in his face. But he was back flying missions within two days.

He is now home but will return to Afghanistan in October.

WATCH video of the mission here -


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/3181045/Flight-Lieutenant-Ian-Fortune-tells-passengers-hes-been-shot-in-the-head.html


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