Anthony Carl Cooper Mason was born on 17 February 1943 and was proud of his Yorkshire roots. After attending Reeds School, he studied Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University (1961-4) and through the University Air Squadron he discovered a love for flying. On graduating in 1964, Carl joined the RAF and for the next 16 years he served in Borneo, Hong Kong,and various places in UK.

From 1973-6, as a Search and Rescue pilot at RAF Lossiemouth he often worked alongside RNLI lifeboat crews and was always impressed by their high level of dedication and professionalism.

Following his RAF career, Carl continued flying, first working in Aberdeen for British Caledonian flying helicopters to the oil rigs, then for British Aerospace in Prestwick training commercial pilots, and finally as a commercial pilot for Loganair.

On 27th February 2001, Carl and his co-pilot Russell Dixon were flying a mail plane from Edinburgh to Belfast. Shortly after take-off, they were forced to ditch their aircraft in the Firth of Forth, close to the shoreline at Granton.

Lifeboats launched from both Queensferry and Kinghorn were first to arrive at the scene of the accident but, tragically, neither Carl nor Russell had survived.

At the subsequent Fatal Accident Inquiry, Sheriff Farrell commented: "Captain Mason's handling of the aircraft, in flying conditions of the most extreme difficulty, demonstrated great fortitude."
"It was airmanship of the highest order."

Carl would have fully appreciated the courage of lifeboat crew members who braved difficult weather conditions in their rescue attempt that night.

This year, Carl would have celebrated his 70th birthday and to mark this we would encourage you to share your memories or thoughts of Carl in the visitors book below.
You may also wish to donate to the RNLI via Carl’s Forever By The Sea Fund.