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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0029.PDF
Icelandic coastguard ensures that the best use of resources is made. The coastguard, which operates from Reykjavik, can cover the limited area out to 150 n.m. with its Fokker F.27 and Dauphin helicopter. Neither has the capability for inflight refuelling, how ever. For any incident beyond 150 n.m. an aircraft from the 56th ARRS is scrambled. Lt Col Griffin tells Flight, "We are proud of our record of having saved more than 230 lives since the start of 1971". Griffin described a typical mission, which involved rescuing the pilot of a light aircraft en route across the Atlantic to Scotland. The accepted route for such a journey is via an airfield on the southern tip of Greenland, a refuelling stop in Reykjavik, and on to land in Scotland. In the case cited by Griffin the pilot decided against landing in Greenland, ran out of fuel 300 miles out from Reykjavik, and ditched in the sea. A USAF HH-3E scram bled from Keflavik picked up the pilot after he had been located by chance by a C-130 Hercules. Griffin says, "The 56th ARRS offers assis tance to anyone who needs it, irrespective of nationality, a point encapsulated on our motto—That others may live' ". Of the total lives saved, more than 20 have been from the USA, 19 from the Soviet Union, eight from Denmark, and six from the UK. The remain der were from countries throughout Europe. The job performed by the men from the 56th aerospace rescue and recovery squadron at Keflavik is a critical one towards promoting good relations with the islanders. Since 1970 the lives of more than 130 locals have been saved by the USAF's HH-3E helicopters. D Amilitary presence in the Republic of Iceland is not new. In May ,1940, twenty-two years after it gained independence from Denmark, the country was occupied by a British Army garrison in an attempt to prevent German control. The following year it was decided that the troops were more urgently needed on mainland Europe, and a tripartite agreement between Iceland, the USA, and Great Britain opened the door for US troops to relieve the British garrison. The proviso was made that all military forces must be withdrawn from the country as soon as the war ended. The first US troops (United States Marines) came ashore in Reykjavik on July 7, 1941. Army and Navy personnel soon followed. The US decision to set up a base on the island proved significant only five months later, when two bays, Hvalfjordur and Seydisfjordur, served as assembly points for US convoys in the wake of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. More U-boats were sunk by aircraft flying from bases in Iceland than from anywhere else in the world. The initial task for US troops was the defence of Iceland. Following US War Department authorisation, they were soon constructing an airport at Keflavik, to provide a refuelling point for transatlantic cargo flights. At the time it was the largest airfield in Europe. N At the end of the war all American mili tary personnel were withdrawn from Ice land, in line with the tripartite agreement. A special agreement, signed on October 7, 1946, was necessary to allow US aircraft to continue to use Keflavik Airport in support of its' occupation forces in Europe. The USA agreed to provide civilian contractors to maintain and operate the airport. i LIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 7 January 1989 27
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