Prince William hands over after final air ambulance shift

Prince William hands over after final air ambulance shift



Prince William has opened up about the horrific sights he has witnessed as an air ambulance pilot as he takes to the skies for the last time.

The royal arrived ten minutes early for his 4.30pm night shift at Marshalls Airport in Cambridge for his final briefing as a pilot with East Anglia Air Ambulance.

Dressed in a regulation blue flight suit with his name, William Wales, on the breast, he attended two regular hand-over briefings from the flying and medical day teams, who had just returned from a call-out.



In an open letter published in the Eastern Daily Press today, William wrote: ‘I now know though that there are things that cannot be unseen and experiences that our first responders deal with on a daily basis that they will carry with them for life.

'I have the utmost respect for the job that our emergency services carry out, without fuss, on a daily basis.

The prince joined the East Anglian Air Ambulance service in March 2015, after serving for nearly five years as a helicopter pilot with the RAF's Search and Rescue Force, and began piloting his first operational missions alongside a team of specialist doctors and critical care paramedics in July that year.

In doing so he became the most senior member of the Royal Family – and the first future king – to become an ‘ordinary’ PAYE employee, although he chose to donate his undisclosed salary to charity.

During his two years with the service, based out of Cambridge Airport, William has responded to 'hundreds' of call-outs in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk (EAAA have declined to confirm exactly how many he has covered) attending everything from road accidents and heart attacks to suicide attempts.

'This is the busiest handover we've ever had,' laughed William, already seated in the small office, as a group of media traipsed in to record the final few minutes.

'We're a bit giggly tonight,' joked his colleague, Captain Dave Kelly.



This has meant landing his helicopter in locations as diverse as residential gardens, car parks and beaches.

And it is clear that his work has had a profound effect on the second in line to the throne, who in an open letter today said: ‘I have the utmost respect for the job that our emergency services carry out, without fuss, on a daily basis.

‘As I hang up my flight suit, I am proud to have served with such an incredible team of people, who save lives across the region every day.’

Tonight that camaraderie was in evidence as he posed for photographs with both the day and night shifts - all colleagues he had worked with regularly over the years.



There was much joshing as the medical crews were asked by a photographer to take a step back and let the pilots come forward.

'Let's cast some shadow on them,' William joked to some good-natured groans.

He also teased supervising doctor, Dr Adam Chesters, by urging him to take what appeared to be a pair of headphones from around his neck. 'They haven't been cleaned in two years!' he laughed, pushing him.

'At least you're working with a professional tonight.....Dave's here!' joked the prince.



Captain Dave Kelly, a former Lynx and Apache pilot who has worked as senior pilot with East Anglia Air Ambulance for the last two years, and will be flying with him tonight, appeared fond of his royal colleague.

He said: 'Prince William has made a fantastic contribution to the team. It's been an absolute pleasure to have him on board. He's been a hard working member of the team.

'Always keen to get his hands dirty and help out, whether it is just cleaning the aircraft or actually at scene helping out with the patients who are critically ill. He's a really valuable member of the team. '

He added: 'The big memory I have will be the very first day he arrived. He was meant to call in for just ten minutes but he ended up staying for about four hours, which was a good sign that he was comfortable amongst the team.

And then his first day at work really. We went at work long when we got a job and we were straight at work on a life-saving mission. 'We have attended a lot of suicides over the years.

'That has moved him greatly. A lot of cases have stuck a cord with him. 'There have bee some difficult jobs to go to, some very recent difficult jobs.

'But we are very much team that sticks up for each other, sticks together and helps each other out.

'We have a lot of very skilled doctors and clinicians and paramedics who we can speak to both on and off duty that will help us out with any issues or things we have seen on scene when we land in these places.'



The prince's shift is due to last until around midnight but he is not guaranteed to be called out to a job. It all depends, said an EAAA spokesman, whether anything comes in.

William's tenure as an air ambulance pilot has also drawn some