Albatross Romeo helicopter crew save mother and two children from flooding Sydney home

The crew from 816 Squadron at Albatross onboard the Seahawk Romeo MH-60R helicopter, Tiger 09, airlifted the mother and her two children, aged three and one, to safety from their flooded home at Werrington, in between Kingswood and St Marys.

The captain of the mission and pilot was Lieutenant Brad Donaldson, mission commander LEUT Grant Rushford, while the two crew were Leading Seaman Liam Sulley and LS Michael Bennet.

It was actually LS Bennet who made the three trips down and up at the end of the winch wire to recover the family safety.

The quartet certainly lived up to the 816 Squadron's motto of 'Imitate the actions of the Tiger'.

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Commanding Officer of 816 Squadron, Commander Lee Pritchard could not be prouder of the crews' efforts.

"Extremely proud and I know the crew and the bigger team at 816 are delighted to be doing our bit to help," he said.

The crew were tasked on Wednesday night to maintain search and rescue capabilities for the NSW SES throughout the evening, with the rescue coming early Thursday morning as they were finishing their first shift.

"I knew they had been involved in a rescue and word had quickly spread of their actions and of course, it appeared in the ABC news," CMDR Pritchard said.

"I spoke with the crew when they returned to base from the mission and they were very happy how everything had gone.

"Of course, it is also a bigger team effort, not just the aircrew who did a fantastic job, but there are the teams back here at Albatross that have also undertaken the work to get the aircraft prepared and ready for the flood emergency effort at such short notice.

"And then to be able to perform such a rescue on their very first night and ensure all three people are safe, everyone is delighted.

"There is a great feeling among the squadron that we are doing our bit to help and as a CO it makes you very proud."

The RAN crew were called in after the woman's home was surrounded by floodwaters, after an SES rescue by boat was deemed too dangerous.

"The family were still inside the home but had become isolated by the rising floodwaters and water was inside the home," CMDR Pritchard said.

CDR Pritchard said the crew was able to put its many hours of training in practice.

"Winching is part of our core skills," he explained "we fly the MH-60 Romeo primarily as a warfare combat helicopter, but the helicopter has many capabilities and can undertake utility work such as this.

"And while the conditions were challenging at times the crew is trained to fly in all sorts of conditions."

It was also the first time the crew had successfully used a new piece of equipment, a child rescue capsule.

The newly acquired capsule allows children to be safely placed inside for winching.

"We only got the capsule last year and it's certainly proven its worth already," CDR Pritchard said.

"They worked like a dream.":

He said it can be a "challenging and somewhat daunting environment for children".

"It's a very large, loud, windy machine, that produces lots of noise and downwash and can be quite an ordeal for children to encounter but when the capsules were opened up inside the aircraft the kids were all happy and smiling," he said.

At this stage the Albatross crews have been tasked to be on standby to offer search and rescue night capabilities for the SES until Sunday, March 6, but CMDR Pritchard said the teams are available to extend that mission time if required.

"A lot depends on the weather conditions and the ongoing flood emergency," he said.

"Ideally we would rather not be used, which would mean the emergency is reducing, but we are ready to go when called upon and it is great to do our bit. And if that means these missions being extended, so be it."