The Royal Navy crew had to use radar and night-vision equipment. Photo: Stuart Hill/MoD/Crown Copyright

Two walkers were airlifted to safety from a Highland peak by a Royal Navy helicopter crew flying in heavy snow in darkness.

The Sea King crew from HMS Gannet in Ayrshire was alerted yesterday after the walkers got lost in mist near the summit of Beinn Ghlas in Perthshire.

The pilots had to use night-vision goggles and the aircraft’s radar during the rescue on the 1,103m (3,619ft) munro near Ben Lawers.

The Sea King took off at 3.15pm on Sunday and was at the rescue site within 30 minutes.

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “The crew was keen to get the job done in the waning daylight.

“They had arrived around an hour ahead of Tayside Mountain Rescue Team and decided to taxi up the mountain to the cloudbase.

“The pilots were guided in to make a landing on the slopes – enough to put their aircrewman, Petty Officer Shaun Knights, on to the mountainside to conduct an on-foot search.

“Unable to find the lost duo in the mist or to hear their shouts, Shaun returned to the helicopter and the team flew down to the base of the mountain. The mountain rescue team members were on scene by then and the decision was made to lift six of them to the cloudbase and return for further numbers thereafter.

“By now darkness had fallen and the weather had deteriorated with heavy snow and freezing conditions and the team was using night vision goggles and relying heavily on radar for safe transit.

“Making single wheel landings, the pilots manoeuvred the mountain rescuers three at a time to as close to the estimated location of the two walkers as possible before routing to Killin to refuel.”

The spokesperson said remaining members of Tayside MRT, a search and rescue dog and officers from Police Scotland, which coordinated the incident, gathered at a control point.

They were preparing to make their way up the mountain when, about 6.30pm, news came in that the missing pair had been found safe and well and were being moved down the mountain.

The helicopter crew then flew back up to cloudbase level to retrieve the walkers and two members of the mountain rescue team.

Lieutenant Commander Andy Drodge, HMS Gannet’s commanding officer and duty observer for the rescue, said: “Visual references for the pilots were very poor.

“We had to take things slow and steady. Although it wasn’t a blizzard there was still heavy snowfall. The conditions were freezing and the driving snow felt like needles on your face.

“We were able to recover the two walkers and two of the rescuers to the base of the mountain. Although cold and very grateful to have been rescued, they were uninjured and good spirits.

“But, with the darkness and the poor visibility, we judged that we would not make a further return journey up the mountain for the remaining mountain rescue team members, who made their way down on foot.

“We immediately routed to Killin to refuel once more before trying to return to Prestwick via Loch Lomond, but conditions were so bad we had to fly north again and reassess the route, this time electing to fly south via Callendar and Glasgow.

“Visibility was so poor we were flying at only 250 to 300ft for the majority of the time, sometimes following road routes – no doubt surprising one or two drivers since we were quite low with our search light on.”

The helicopter crew Lieutenants Mark Rose and Stuart Cassidy, along with PO Knights and Lt Cdr Drodge, arrived back at its base about 8.45pm.