Aberdeen RNLI’s newest lifeboat named in honour of helicopter crash victim

A new inshore lifeboat that recently entered service with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station in Aberdeen has been named after one of the victims of a deadly helicopter crash in the North Sea off Scotland ten years prior.

The rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was christened Buoy Woody 85N at a special ceremony at the Aberdeen Lifeboat Station on Saturday, April 20.

The boat honours Stuart “Woody” Wood of Newmachar, who perished when Bond Offshore Helicopters Flight 85N went into the water 20 kilometres off Peterhead on April 1, 2009. None of the helicopter’s 16 occupants survived the crash.

The RIB was acquired for £30,000 (US$38,944), which came entirely from donations generated through the fundraising efforts of Stuart’s mother, Audrey, and the rest of the Wood family.

Buoy Woody 85N replaces an older inshore lifeboat that had been in service with Aberdeen RNLI for over 10 years.