Tornado donated to to the GMFRS Training and Safety Centre

Date published: 15 February 2017


A Tornado fighter jet has been donated to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service for its Training and Safety Centre.

The Tornado will be involved in one of many scenarios being set up at the training site to help give firefighters realistic training of the highest quality to help keep local communities safer.

Reaching speeds of up to 1,300 miles per hour, the aircraft was an early version of which only 18 were built. It last flew in 2014 before being decommissioned in 2015.

The jet will sit in a carefully fabricated plane crash scenario, involving a partially demolished house.

The multi-million pound Training and Safety Centre, due to open this spring in Bury, will help firefighters train for a whole range of incidents and other scenarios that could potentially happen in Greater Manchester.

Chris Wilson, from Jet Art aviation who installed the facility, said: "This F2 plane which was built in 1984 was donated by the Royal Air Force and will now serve as a training facility for firefighters and other emergency services, to help saves lives and keep the public safe.

Project manager Sean Booth said: "The reason we're installing this is so we can carry out our operational procedures should we ever have an aircraft come down in Greater Manchester."

"We're putting it next to our collapsed structures, so the scenario looks as though the plane has come down and hit the buildings."

The facility will train firefighters and the safety centre will also serve as an interactive experience for school children to learn about how to keep themselves and their communities safe.

Do you have a story for us?

Let us know by emailing news@rochdaleonline.co.uk
All contact will be treated in confidence.


To contact the Rochdale Online news desk, email news@rochdaleonline.co.uk or visit our news submission page.

To get the latest news on your desktop or mobile, follow Rochdale Online on Twitter and Facebook.


While you are here...

...we have a small favour to ask; would you support Rochdale Online and join other residents making a contribution, from just £3 per month?

Rochdale Online offers completely independent local journalism with free access. If you enjoy the independent news and other free services we offer (event listings and free community websites for example), please consider supporting us financially and help Rochdale Online to continue to provide local engaging content for years to come. Thank you.

Support Rochdale Online