Flares

lefkasman

lefkasman

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Lefkas Island, Ionian Sea, Greece.
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Boy, 4, fighting for life after being hit by military flare in 'deliberate' street attack
No licence is required to keep them, but it is illegal to fire one over land.
Last November the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the government organisation which coordinates search and rescue missions, banned its staff from using the devices over fears that they were ‘capable of causing considerable injury’.

Hard to comprehend any one being so stupid!
 
lefkasman said:
Boy, 4, fighting for life after being hit by military flare in 'deliberate' street attack
No licence is required to keep them, but it is illegal to fire one over land.
Last November the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the government organisation which coordinates search and rescue missions, banned its staff from using the devices over fears that they were ‘capable of causing considerable injury’.

Hard to comprehend any one being so stupid!
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Was this street attack in Greece, or the UK?
Does the illegality to which you refer apply in Greece or the UK? If in the UK is it only military flares which are illegal?
Is it the British MCA which banned their staff from using them? I cannot see why they would want to be using military flares, except possibly white para illuminating ones which are the same both for the military and civil use. They do use, as does the RNLI, Speedline or similar line throwing devices, though.
Sorry for so many questions, but your post is a bit confusing when we read your location as being on a Greek island.
 
Thanks for clearing that up Major, sorry for being so vague.
Agree it would be surprising if The Daily Mail got any facts correct.
But what I found surprising was this.."Last November the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the government organisation which coordinates search and rescue missions, banned its staff from using the devices over fears that they were ‘capable of causing considerable injury’."
That can't be right, can anyone confirm?have there been so many accidents in trained qualified hands?
 
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lefkasman said:
Thanks for clearing that up Major, sorry for being so vague.
Agree it would be surprising if The Daily Mail got any facts correct.
But what I found surprising was this.."Last November the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the government organisation which coordinates search and rescue missions, banned its staff from using the devices over fears that they were ‘capable of causing considerable injury’."
That can't be right, can anyone confirm?have there been so nanny accidents in trained qualified hands?
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Like the NANNY bit---sounds about right.Just as the Daily Mail sounds a bit wrong.
 
Ludd said:
Like the NANNY bit---sounds about right.Just as the Daily Mail sounds a bit wrong.
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LOL, you picked me up on that spelling before I had a chance to correct, but in view of what Twister Ken tells us perhaps I had the right word in the first place.
What next, maybe Maritime and Coastguard personnel will not be allowed out on the water, it can be a dangerous place and they would not want to risk anyone getting drowned, just think of all that tiresome litigation.
 
Twister_Ken said:
I recall this MCA stuff.
New management banned white paras used for searching, coz they thought modern torches, infra-red, night vision, etc would be better and it wouldn't risk getting its fingers burnt if a white para ever did any litigation-worthy damage.
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Lot of protests over this and some CG rescue teams,including mine, now have a supply of white paraflares (the ones in question) restored. There is absolutely nothing as good as a white para in most foreshore-search ops at night.
Withdrawing them seems to have been a bright idea of the MCA CEO, however he is leaving early next year when we might get someone more fitted for the task (or of course we might not).
 
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That can't be right, can anyone confirm?have there been so many accidents in trained qualified hands?
Click to expand...

There was a very nasty accident a couple of years ago involving a guy called Duncan Wells, who was doing an organised flare demonstration, with in-date flares. The detail has been covered several times including posts on here, so I won't repeat it, but Google his name if you want to read more.

I believe the accident was a one-off, and probably caused by a defective flare but I guess once it's happened, you can't put the H&S Genie back in the bottle.....
 
The 4 yr old fighting for his life is reported on Skynews - so I understand. It was a result of mischief I believe.

But we should accept that explosives deserve no place on a yot in the 21st Century.

Give 'em up boys.
 
EdWingfield said:
The 4 yr old fighting for his life is reported on Skynews - so I understand. It was a result of mischief I believe.

But we should accept that explosives deserve no place on a yot in the 21st Century.

Give 'em up boys.
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How do you get from a criminal misuse of flares inland to banning them for correct use at sea?

I will continue to carry flares in my boat for that one time when the sh*t hits the fan, the batteries are flat and I need to try and attract attention for a bit of help.
 
EdWingfield said:
But we should accept that explosives deserve no place on a yot in the 21st Century.

Give 'em up boys.
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Give em up? Not me!

What's the score at the moment? Lives lost as a result of flare (mis) use = don't know an exact number, but it's tiny. Lives saved as a result of using flares = again, don't know an exact number, but willing to bet it's a hell of a lot.

I'm keeping mine!

As well as my EPIRB, DSC, and anything else that I can use to get help if I ever need it
 
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