A LUCKY chance meant a mountain rescue team from a North Yorkshire air base was in the right place when a group of climbers got into difficulties in Scotland over the weekend.

The crew from RAF Leeming were on a training mission on a mountain, The Cobbler, in Argyll, when they were alerted on Saturday afternoon that three men were in trouble nearby.

One, who is thought to have fallen 100ft, was airlifted to hospital in Glasgow where he later died of his injuries.

However, the team from Leeming remained with the other two who were suffering from shock, helping them aboard a Sea King helicopter, scrambled from RAF Kinloss, to be flown to safety.

The Sea King also carried the Leeming team off the mountain.

A spokesman at RAF Lossiemouth Rescue Coordination Centre said: "The party was on The Cobbler when one of them fell about 100ft and sustained major injuries. His colleagues raised the alarm and made their way down, where they found him unconscious with arm and leg injuries.''

Strathclyde Police confirmed the injured man was pronounced dead at hospital. His identity had not been confirmed last night.

Meanwhile, the same helicopter crew was scrambled again yesterday when another climber used his mobile phone to summon help on Ben Nevis.

Forty-year-old Brian Garthwaite, of Newark, Nottinghamshire, got stuck on a rock in an area known as The Arete, but was rescued unhurt