AN RAF Chinook helicopter crew landed in the grounds of a £2,000-a-night hotel — and left with cakes and treats.
Guests were stunned when the 98ft chopper thundered on to the castle lawns of the Cameron House Hotel on the shores of Loch Lomond.
6
6
An airman in his flight helmet then hot-footed inside — emerging minutes later clutching bags of cake after hotel bosses learnt it was the retiring pilot’s birthday.
Others then briefly joined him inside the hotel at the invitation of the management.
A spokesman for the five-star resort told The Sun: “We often accommodate military and emergency service training landings.
“On learning the flight coincided with the pilot’s birthday, and was also their final flight before retirement, our team welcomed the crew with complimentary refreshments to mark the milestone.”
READ MORE UK NEWS
TRAVEL HELL
Rush hour chaos as NO TRAINS from major UK station due to ‘casualty on track’
CAUGHT OUT
Moment police ram driver, 35, off road & cuff him after three week ‘crime spree’
After its birthday cake pitstop, the chopper took off without even having shut off its engines.
A witness said: “They didn’t hang around. It was a case of have your cake and beat it!
“We couldn’t believe it. It’s not every day you see a Chinook landing on a hotel lawn.”
An RAF source thanked the hotel last night and said: “It is great to see the public backing our armed forces. The hotel agreed to let us land and then offered the crew some afternoon snacks. It is a little gesture but great for morale.”
Most read in The Sun
TOWER INFERNO
An almighty bang & choking flames – my horrifying 84th floor escape on 9/11
IN HER WORDS
Lindsay Clancy could get massive payout with ‘Son of Sam’ law loophole
BABY HORROR
Mum charged with murder of baby, 1, after tot found with multiple severe wounds
6
6
The pilots were part of 28 Squadron based at the RAF’s Leuchars Station, 70 miles away.
It is an operational conversion unit where pilots learn how to fly Chinooks.
Top brass were terrified the RAF would be accused of wasting money.
They explained that the chopper had made its landing so that they could switch the pilot in the captain’s seat.
The RAF source told The Sun: “The Chinook landed as part of an essential navigation training exercise for student aircrew.
“It was scheduled to allow a captaincy change.”
Rotating pilots is a cost-saving measure to give aircrew enough hours at the controls to legally be allowed to fly, while cutting the total number of flights.
An official RAF source said: “Hotel staff unexpectedly provided food to the crew during the stop.
“They didn’t request it and it was not part of the planned activity.”
6
6