Cougar helicopters from the 24th Air Base at Krumovo spent 12 days flying over the Black Sea to search for and inspect the damaged ships Abel and Alfa Watan, pilots and rescuers from the base said. The Bulgarian Air Force today marks 114 years since the first combat flight of military aviation.
The operations took place about 80 nautical miles off the coast, in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone. The navy and border services worked alongside the crews from Krumovo. The helicopters searched for the ships and watched them from the air. On one task, they lowered rescuers onto Abel to check its condition. Alfa Watan sank.
In Sofia, the ceremony traditionally begins at the Airman's Monument, with wreaths and flowers. Defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov, chief of defence Adm. Emil Eftimov and senior commanders will attend. The Guards Representative Brass Band will play, and a ceremonial unit from the National Guards Unit will take part.
Cougar pilot Maj. Nikolay Nikolov of the 24th Air Base flew in three of the four missions over the sea. The first was on October 4, when his crew searched for Abel and watched it from the air.
A few days later, the helicopters flew out on a search and rescue mission for Alfa Watan and Abel. On his last mission, Nikolov and his crew flew a team of rescuers to Abel to inspect the ship.
Nikolov said the hardest parts were the weather, the need to react fast and coordination between the services. The first step is to assess the situation, he said, because the weather was not equally good on every mission.
The missions had to be as fast as possible. On the second one, it was vital to arrive in time and, if needed, save all the sailors from the sunken Alfa Watan.
On one rescue mission, a Su-25 jet took off first. It scanned the area, found the coordinates of the ships in distress and checked for threats. The helicopters then followed, with data from the jet and from the maritime search and rescue centres.
"But unfortunately, we did not find anyone in distress in the whole search and rescue area we covered," Maj. Nikolov told BNT.
The pilot said success depends on teamwork between the air force, the navy and the centres that coordinate sea rescues. The centres give the crews the exact position of the ships, the approach route and search pattern, data on sea currents and the search direction. The crews stayed in constant contact with them on every mission, and data from the Su-25 and the centres helped them arrive in time.
Capt. Dimitar Rachev is a flight engineer at the same base. During a flight, he monitors the helicopter's technical systems, helps the crew and, when needed, works the onboard winch. Rachev said the outcome of a search is sometimes not the one hoped for. It is hard on the crews, he said, but it makes them more effective, better and more prepared for future missions.
"Behind every mission there are human lives and families waiting for their loved ones to come home," Capt. Rachev told BNT.
Over the sea, the helicopters mostly fly in pairs. If one has a failure, the crew of the other can quickly rescue it on their own, without other forces or equipment.
Junior Sgt. Velislav Arakov is a rescuer in the search and rescue unit of the 24th Air Base at Krumovo. He and a colleague were lowered by winch onto Abel to inspect the ship and collect information on its condition.
Arakov said the big challenge is that such tasks do not come up often. Rescuers train for many situations, and this is one of them.