A CREW from RAF Lyneham has flown a mercy mission for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The sortie last Thursday saw staff at the children's hospital, pictured, asking for help in transporting four surgeons plus equipment for a trip from Lyneham to Belfast.

There, the experts collected a heart for transport to London which would be used in an emergency transplant.

The team picked up the heart from Belfast and with help from Air Traffic Control in London, the Hercules C130J was given a straight route into London's Heathrow Airport to deliver the heart to the hospital.

Flt Lt Paul Flusk, the co-pilot for the journey said: "It feels good to do a job that can help to save someone's life. The mission was completed in under eight hours and ran very smoothly which was all down to the work of the captain of the flight, Flt Lt Mark Raymond, and the rest of the team in operations and air traffic control."