Chattering pirate's first to be saved by navy chopper (8)
I believe the answer is:
speaking
'chattering' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being present participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'pirate's first to be saved by navy chopper' is the wordplay.
'pirate's first' becomes 'p' (sst letter of 'pirate').
'to be saved by' is an insertion indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'navy chopper' becomes 'seaking' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'p' placed within 'seaking' is 'SPEAKING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for speaking that I've seen before include "Talking" , "Conversing" , "conveying meaning" , "a way of passing the word" , "oratory" .)