The Channel Islands Air Search team responded to twice as many callouts in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Its annual report reveals crews were asked to assist emergency services 32 times last year, compared to 16 times in 2023. 

21 of these cases were assisting in helping to find missing people, with the most popular time for callouts in September and October. 

The volunteer team of 20, made up of pilots, search directors and observers, collectively gave over 2050 hours of their time to the Channel Islands Air Search last year. 

One notable search by the team in 2024 was helping the French coastguard locate a passenger that had fallen off cruise ship MSC Virtuosa on 12 October. 

The woman, later named as Jessica Andrea Gomez Granda, was located quickly by the air search's helicopter, but she was sadly confirmed she had died. 

Channel Islands Air Search looking for Jessica Andrea Gomez Granda

Crews also helped to locate a 77 year old solo sailor who suffered an electrical failure in his boat after leaving port in Jersey on 5 October.

They were thankfully found by teams after nearly two hours of searching and were towed back to shore by the RNLI. 

RNLI towing back the 77 year old sailor and their boat

The same vessel was again reported overdue a few days later on 5 October.

A French yachtsman was found 'safe and well' by the Air Search, after two days adrift following his boat losing power. 

Another successful search took place in Guernsey on 27 October where teams found a high-risk missing person through use of an infra-red camera. 

As well as the higher demand for the search and rescue plane, the CIAS 2024 annual report highlights how 'funds remain a challenge', with annual running costs now in the region of £300,000. 

Manager John Fitzgerald says it is costly to keep the aircraft flying:

"There's nothing cheap about having an aircraft... there's so much legislation that we have to abide by - with engineering, flight training, and with insurance which has increased so dramatically as well for everybody."

The report says, 'there is a trend for large corporation donations to be steered towards wellbeing and sustainability projects, as well as those suffering from the cost of living crisis, rather than running costs for charities such as ours'. 

John said CIAS is really feeling the impact of this:

"People have so much less money to spare these days, so every charity is trying to find new and interesting ways to get people to donate to us.

"We've done the runway run in Guernsey and this year, 2025, I think Jersey have got the runway run which they are doing on behalf of Air Search. That'll be a great one for people to get involved in."

The services hopes to replace and upgrade vital equipment used in searches, including its marine radar and mission management software.