David “Heavy” Whalley’s decades as an RAF rescuer saw him cover the horrors of Lockerbie and the Kintyre Chinook crash.
The BEM and MBE’s distinguished service at the forefront of mountain rescue and safety education has spanned more than 40 years.
Now the 70-year-old from Burghead is the 16th recipient of the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture.
He has been hailed for his “lifetime of selfless dedication” by the Fort William Mountain Festival.
He joins previous esteemed winners including Dave Morris, Andy Nisbet, Jimmy Marshall, Myrtle Simpson, Ian Sykes, Karen Darke and Dr Hamish MacInnes.
Mr Whalley was a member of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Mountain Rescue Service for 37 years.
He was Team Leader of RAF Leuchars, RAF Kinloss, and Deputy Team Leader at RAF Valley in North Wales.
He spent the last four years of his RAF career working in the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre at RAF Kinloss.
During this time, he took part in more than 1,000 mountain and over 80 aircraft incidents in mountainous areas.
He was the senior team leader at the Lockerbie disaster in December 1988 when 270 people were killed in the terrorist attack.
He was also involved in the hunt for survivors when a Chinook helicopter crashed on Mull of Kintyre in 1994 and the four RAF crew and 25 terrorism experts were killed.
‘It is great honour’
Mr Whalley said: “To be put forward for this award and named in the same group as the past winners of the Fort William Mountain Festival is so humbling.
“It is a great honour, thank you.
“It is more about amazing recognition of mountain rescue rather than just me.
“For me, there was never a better feeling than when you rescued someone from danger.
“It was hard to deal with a lot of major incidents.”
He paid tribute to his colleagues over the years.
He added: “There are many people who are 100% unpaid in RNLI and mountain rescue who we should celebrate more.
“I wouldn’t have got this award without my colleagues.
“I just wished these type of awards were given to teams rather than individuals.
“We supported each other in dark moments.”
After leaving the RAF he joined the Torridon and and Kinlochewe Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) serving with them for three years until he retired.
Heavy was a member of the Executive of The Scottish Mountain Rescue Committee for over 20 years, serving for five years as the accident statistician and three years as chair.
He is both an honorary member of the Torridon and Kinlochewe MRT and President of the Search and Rescue Dog Association Scotland.
He continues to share his passion for the outdoors and his vast experience and expansive knowledge of mountain rescue by teaching and lecturing on mountain safety.
Alvance British Aluminium Managing Director, Tom Uppington, added: “As the sponsors of this prestigious Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture, we are delighted that Dave ‘Heavy’ Whalley has been recognised for his inspirational work and tireless devotion to public safety.
“Dave’s passion for a lifetime of selfless dedication, putting others safety before his own, makes him a worthy recipient of this award.”
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