Prince William Qualifies As RAF Operational Captain

Flight Lieutenant Wales is pictured shortly after he qualifed as a search and rescue captain

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The Duke of Cambridge has qualified as a Royal Air Force search and rescue operational captain.

William - known as Flight Lieutenant Wales in the military - has previously only co-piloted Sea King helicopters but will now be able to command RAF operations.
The second in line to the throne completed two days of ground and air-based tests to achieve the qualification, following two years of flying experience.
William joined C Flight, 22 Squadron at RAF Valley in Anglesey in September 2010, the autumn before he married Kate Middleton, now the Duchess of Cambridge.
The duke's examiner, wing commander Mark Dunlop, said Flt Lt Wales had "demonstrated the required standards needed for the award of Operation Captaincy".
He added: "Due to the nature of search and rescue operations, the required standards are always set at a very high level.
"Operational captaincy carries the overarching responsibility for the safety of the aircraft, its crew and any casualties."
William, whose rank remains Flight Lieutenant despite his new qualification, finished his tests on May 29.

The Duke and Duchess of Wales have a home near William's RAF base

The mock rescue scenarios saw him take part in an airborne search for a yacht, a search for two missing kayakers, a search for people in water and extinguishing a simulated fire on a large survey vessel.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said William's peers are also being assessed, adding that his tests had been carried out in "the normal timescale".
William was told that he passed during a debrief on the day of the airborne exercises and can act as an operational captain from now on, the spokesman added.
He said a "wide spectrum of skills" had to be shown to gain the qualification, including those involved for the practical tests.
Earlier this year, William spent more than six weeks flying search and rescue missions in the Falkland Islands.
The deployment to the remote South Atlantic outcrop, which came at a time of growing tensions between Britain and Argentina over the islands, was described as being a normal career move for a pilot at that stage in their working life.
The extra hours in the air, as well as the challenge of flying over harsh terrain and the South Atlantic, will have been useful experience to William in gaining his new qualification.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a home in North Wales near William's RAF base.