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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51
1 5 AUG 1980
DESK OFFICER
REGISTRY
32
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
31 July 1980
! Intress the 5/5.
2. PA
P J Williamson Esq
HK&GD FCO
INDEX
Dear Patrick,
PA
Action Taken
AW's
MEDICAL EVACUATION FLIGHT FROM GUANGDONG TO HONG KONG
For the record you will wish to know that last week the Hong Kong Royal Auxiliary Air Force made a first flight to Guangdong, to carry out a medical evacuation from China. The patient, Dr Kelly West, was a member of a US medical delegation who had suffered a severe cerebral haemorrhage at Conghua Hot Springs north-east of Guangzhou. Sadly, he died four days after being brought here.
2.
The request for the HK RAAF to help came from the
US Consulate-General here on 24 July who had been in touch with the US Consulate-General in Guangzhou. It seemed that the Chinese did not have available a suitable helicopter to carry someone a stretcher with an accompanying doctor from the resort, where there was no landing strip for a fixed wing aircraft. We said we would be glad to help but suggestedit would be best for the Americans to clear the proposal with the Chinese. This was very quickly achieved through the US Embassy in Peking and details were then confirmed over the voice link between Kai Tak airport and the civil aviation authorities in Guangzhou. In the event the Chinese medical team decided that Dr West was too ill to travel on 24 July but the flight took place the following day. This involved an Alouette helicopter and a Cessna Titan 404 going to Guangzhou. The helicopter went up to Conghua and brought Dr West back to the Cessna in which he was flown to Hong Kong. (There was also an alternative contingency plan, depending on the medical assessment on arrival in Guangzhou, for the Cessna to go on to Clark base in the Philippines).
3.
It is likely that, with the increasing number of visitors to Guangzhou (and the presence of a US Consulate-General), there will be more such requests and these could involve UK or other citizens. The procedures for getting clearance from the Chinese worked well in this case and a precedent has been set. We are looking at the impli- cations of this for the future and will let you and Peking know if we have any further points to make. Meanwhile, one clear lesson, confirmed by the Americans, is that the authorities in Guangzhou required clearance for the flight from Peking. We had in any case told the Americans that we thought our NCNA channels would not be the right ones (or sufficiently speedy) to use in this case. However, we kept the NCNA in the picture.
Soutar Esq WASHINGTON
cc RC Fursland Esq
Yours even,
K Sullivan Esq PEKINGESTRICTED
ever, I ain Iain
C Orr)