Frank Cannings

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Frank Cannings is a British climber. He was active in the south west of England and climbed extensively with Pat Littlejohn during the 1970s, adding many high quality additions on Lundy and other crags in Devon and Cornwall.

During one unfortunate trip to Lundy in August 1971 Frank took a very bad fall, landing 80ft below at the base of the cliff and sustaining head injuries and a broken pelvis. A helicopter was summoned from the nearby RAF Chivenor in Devon, but when the helicopter arrived the winch cable was too short and so the helicopter had to wait idly by why other climbers on the island strapped him to a stretcher and hauled him to the top of the cliff.

Relief upon boarding the helicopter was short lived. Just five minutes after taking off the helicopter developed engine trouble and the pilot had to cut the engine and ditch the aircraft in to the sea! The pilot and co-pilot managed to escape through the cockpit windows, but Frank, the winchman and Patricia (Frank's then wife) were trapped in the rear of the aircraft, with Frank still strapped to a stretcher.

As the helicopter started to sink beneath the waves the winchman, Flight Sgt Geoff Parker, was able to force a way out and Pat was able to get free from the aircraft. Bravely, Parker returned to the sinking aircraft to try and free Frank. After struggling underwater with the stretcher, which had become jammed, Parker was unable to free it and had to return to the surface. Much to his surprise, when he reached the surface he found Frank there already!

Frank:

I got called Houdini at the time because I was still tied up in the climbing ropes and had been securely strapped to the stretcher. The winchman swore he hadn't released me - and I certainly couldn't have done it myself. It seems that I somehow slid out of the straps, leaving the stretcher still jammed across the exit, trapping Geoff until he could remove it.

From here their luck improved, and Parker was able to inflate a one man dinghy and get Frank and Pat aboard. After another 30 minutes a second helicopter arrived, winched them aboard and was able to take them to hospital.

References

[1] https://www.thefreelibrary.com/I+CHEATED+DEATH+TWICE+IN+ONE+DAY%3B+BBC+researchers+have+trawled+the...-a060631784

[2] Mountain issue 19, page 14