Page 33 - World Airnews Magazine April 2020 Edition

MAVIO MAVIO

LOOKING BACK: THE LIBYAN due to territorial water issues
and oil drilling concessions.
The Libyans came to Malta
MILITARY MISSION IN and based a massive tri-engined
SA 321 Super Frelon on the is-
land. As Lt. Col. Smith explained
MALTA BEGINS to us, the helicopter proved
to be completely inept for the

Maltese operation.
It was bulky and had high op-
Report by Marvic Bugeja / Chris Cauchi erating costs. Realising this, the

Libyans exchanged the SA 321
Super Frelon operation with

three SA 316 Alouettes which Lt Col Joseph Smith is seen posing for the
would be later donated to the cameras with the Libyan SA 321 Super Frelon in

he first helicopters to join the armed forces of Malta Armed Forces of Malta, after a the background. Over the years there were four

Twere donated by what was then known as West Germa- change in government in 1987. different Libyan Super Frelons based in Malta
ny way back in 1971. The Armed Forces of Malta,
As a result of this gesture of goodwill on part of this pro-west- was also the beneficiary of a

ern country, the government issued a call for applications which Bell Jet Ranger II, which the
was open to both policemen as well as personnel within the Libyans donated to the AFM.
armed forces of Malta. This carried the civilian
The new recruits were to join the first batch of pilots and techni- registration 9H-AAY. As Lt.

cians on the elementary Bell 47G-2. Four helicopters were donat- Col Smith revealed to World
ed and were all operated by the armed forces of Malta or AFM. Airnews, this was one of the
The political decision was also taken that the Malta police very few Jet Rangers in the

force would have no air unit of its own but would instead rely on world to be manufactured with
In his career Lt Col Smith has flown a number of the support of the AFM. a sliding door.

dignitaries as well as the jet set. Here he is seen World Airnews met up with now retired Lt. Col. Joseph Smith The helicopter was originally

with President Emeritus Eddie Fenech Adami who was part of the initial batch of Maltese pilots to be trained used as a gunship on border

on the very basic helicopter. patrol in Libya. The sliding

Lt. Col. Smith went on to fly five different types within the AFM door would prove to be a very The first AB212 arrived in Malta in 1987. The type was
usually flown by an Italian pilot and a Maltese co-

Air Wing before concluding his flying career on the Agusta Bell versatile feature especially pilot. This arrangement helped the AFM Air Wing to

212 of the Italian Military Mission in Malta in 1998. since it was used extensively on build its expertise on a heavy twin engine helicopter

He explained that the Italians initially brought the AB204, but medevac operations between

pilots were wary of conducting search and rescue sorties over Malta and Gozo.

large expanses of water with a one engine helicopter, so they The novel feature proved to
demanded a twin engine machine that would give pilots and be true boon as the Jet Ranger
rescuers a higher margin of safety in critical situations. also provided an excellent plat-

After high-level discussions at political level, the Italians even- form for aerial photography.

tually acceded to this demand and stationed Agusta Bell 212s One of the most interesting
from 1987 onwards. helicopters, to ever join the Air

During our interview Lt. Col. Smith made a number of very Wing fleet was the Breda Nardi
interesting revelations related to some ‘very hot topics’ were NH500.

Lt Col Smith is seen posing for the camera just often overlooked by aviation buffs. His helicopter was the MD500

prior to taking delivery of the two Nardi-Hughes The first ever helicopter rescue by the AFM was carried out in manufactured under licence in

369 from Guardia di Finanza in mid-1992 1972 – when the armed forces of Malta air wing was not yet Italy. The two examples that

fully operational. reached the Maltese shores In 1991 three Aloutte III were donated by the

were both high-time examples
Despite this, the brave men within the unit were called into and thus their flying within Libyans to the Armed Forces of Malta. These

action after a British man was carried out to sea by huge waves the AFM Air Wing was quite were handed to Brig. John Spiteri. They were

which were battering the western coast of the island, close to limited. They were mainly used eventually sent to France to be overhauled

the famous Blue Grotto. for coastal patrol and carried
The Bell 47G-2 captained by Lt. Col Joseph Smith and his co-pi- the registrations 9H-ABY and

lot Charles Mansueto flew to the spot, battling strong winds and 9H-ABZ.

10 metre high waves with very little room to manoeuvre in such With the assistance of EU

treacherous conditions. Funds, the AFM embarked on a
The only thing they had available was a “salva uomo”, which modernisation programme that

the co-pilot threw to the Englishman in distress. Luckily, thanks saw it’s fixed and rotary- wing

to the above average piloting skills of Lt. Col Joseph Smith fleet being modernised and

and his co-pilot’s quick thinking, the life saving floating device augmented.

ended within reach and the hapless swimmer held onto it until The latest type helicopter to
an armed forces of Malta patrol boat picked him up some 30 join the two distinct fleets was

minutes later. the AgustaWestland AW139

Often overlooked by aviation historians, it is worth noting which proved to be a reliable

One of two Nardi-Hughes 369 which were donated
that Malta was the only European country to ever host a Libyan workhorse especially for search to the AFM after extensive use by the Italian Guardia

CEO Marvic Bugeja is seen interviewing Lt Col Joseph military mission on its territory. and rescue operations in di Finanza. The two helicopters had already clogged
Smith on the MAviO TV set. MAviO TV is a web based This started in 1977 and came to an abrupt end in the early Maltese territorial waters and thousands of hours and were close to the end of

platform wholly dedicated to the aviation scene in Malta eighties after the relations between Malta and Libya turned sour beyond. Q their life cycle went transferred to the Air Wing

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