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Crash heroes bring Force's first bravery medals
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| Mettle medals: The CE awards the ASU's SIP Dave Bennett and SSGT Tsang Siu-ping | |
The Force has received its first ever Bravery Awards thanks to the courage and quick work of two Airport Security Unit officers and their colleagues in the air crash rescue at Chek Lap Kok.
Senior Inspector Dave Bennett and Station Sergeant Tsang Siu-ping received the medals for Bravery, a silver and a bronze respectively, from Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa on October 9.
The duo were among eight people, including four Fire Services officers, to receive Medals for Bravery in the ceremony at Government House.
They were extolled for their excellent courage, risking their lives to pull trapped, injured and disorientated passengers and crew from the flaming, upside down plane wreckage on August 22, in the thick of Typhoon Sam.
The awards were the first ever Bravery medals presented to the Force by the Special Administrative Region Government.
 CSP SUP Lionel Lam receives his Police Medal for Distinguished Service from the CE |
SIP Bennett, who heads the five ASU teams, was also acclaimed for his top leadership and determination, entering the wreck several times despite the threat of an explosion.
After being informed of his commendation, SIP Bennett told OffBeat he was "over the moon" but was quick to reiterate the award went to his team of ASU colleagues.
"It was not just a reflection of my own efforts but that of the entire team," he said."When I got notification from the Director of Protocol about the award, naturally I was very pleased - we will definitely celebrate and have a few beers with all the guys."
SSGT Tsang added: "It's an honour to receive the medal but the casualties made me sad. But I'd like to point out that all police officers at the crash scene tried their best in the rescue. It was with this excellent co-operation and teamwork that we could succeed in bringing the passengers and crew members to safety within the shortest period of time. The medal is not just for me, rather, it's for every one of my colleagues involved in the incident."
Having served in the Special Duties Unit for 18 years, SSGT Tsang said he was never afraid of challenges and dangers and his family was very proud of his rescue efforts.
"My daughter took to school a copy of OffBeat carrying the story and told her teacher that her dad was on the front page!"
He said training was the biggest contributing factor to their successful operation, with a mock crash exercise conducted only a few months prior to the incident.
At the same ceremony, a total of 31 police officers and civilians also received awards from the Chief Executive for their dedicated and meritorious service.
Among them was Chief Superintendent (Support) Lionel Lam Kin, who received the Hong Kong Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
Twenty-three officers received the Hong Kong Police Medal for Meritorious Service, one was awarded the Medal of Honour and six the Chief Executive's Commendation for Government Service.