Queen’s helicopter ‘suffers in-flight emergency’ on way to pick up Princess Anne

Queen’s helicopter ‘suffers in-flight emergency’ and suffers a technical fault on the way to pick up Princess Anne.

THE Queen’s helicopter was grounded on Wednesday, August 24, after declaring an in-flight emergency on its way to pick up Princess Anne. The £5million Sikorsky S-76 suffered a technical fault just minutes into the flight.

According to a report from The Express, pilots were forced to abort the 200-mile trip to Balmoral and had to return to Newcastle Airport where mechanics were still repairing the fault 24 hours later.

The executive twin-engined aircraft was heading to the estate in the Scottish Highlands, where the Queen is on holiday, to collect Anne, 71.

“A safety-first approach was taken and it was flown back immediately for the technical fault to be fixed. There were no members of the Royal Family on the helicopter. Luckily, there was plenty of time to find alternative travel arrangements,” said an insider.

Princess Anne later took another helicopter flight to attend her three engagements in Oban.

The Royal Family fully owns the Sikorsky S-76 and also leases a second similar helicopter when one is needed.

The royals’ use of helicopters was detailed in the financial report ranging from April 2020 to March 2021. In its travel appendix, a total of 47 helicopter journeys were counted, grouped together as they did not cost more than £15,000 individually.

The total cost of the use of the royal helicopters over the past financial year amounted to £669,149, the report read.

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