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August 11th, 2010
12:42 AM ET
Helicopter tips over during glacier rescue
An Alaska Army National Guard helicopter trying to rescue people on Knik Glacier tipped over Tuesday after an icy landing, a Guard spokesman said.
The three crew members of the UH-60 Black Hawk were not injured, said Maj. Guy Hayes, spokesman for the Guard. Winds reaching 70 miles per hour, rain and overcast skies made the mission difficult.
Crews must now reach the three crew members and nine others the helicopter was trying to rescue.
Will the five "sightseers" (described as such in the parent article) requiring rescue from the glacier be responsible for footing any part of the ginormous bill that's being totted up to save their happy little a**es? Let's see – the butcher's bill now includes not only multiple people putting their own lives at risk in hellish weather to save them, but now a multi-million dollar helicopter has been trashed in the effort. All because five adrenaline junkies thought it would be kewl to go traipsing around on a glacier cavorting with the baby seals in some of the world's most remote and inaccessible terrain. There's nothing wrong with a bit more adventure in all of our lives, but if you're going to be Roald Amundsen out there, you should have to help pay for the privilege.
"Crews must now reach the three crew members and nine others the helicopter was trying to rescue."
ROFLCOPTER
Hey db,
I guess you missed the part about the 70mph winds, huh?
Good luck getting that GED.
All the helicopter crew in Antarctic are trained to drill a hole (to test the thickness of the ice), before they land.
I have to believe there are better places to put PUBLIC MONEY than saving a few errant climbers at a time, no? I see alot of people paying FOR the possible rescue crews but very FEW people who likley benefit from them. Thats not to take away anything from their bravery and skill, just to say the job they are hired to do is generally rescuing people who are victims of accidents, etc.. Most citizens pay taxes but ill bet less than 1/100 of one percent actually use rescue helicopter services when a mountain climbing trip goes awry. It should be an "at risk" sport, like swimming at a beach without a lifeguard.
They were not climbers; it was a small plane had crashed into a snow drift leaving a couple of them with minor injuries - why CNN didn't mention that in the article above is odd. Freezing rain and wind; we'll just leave them there to freeze eh?
I wish you would all quit using our family name as a term of abuse for those with whom you disagree. But at least we see it used less now that Bush is out of office.
Just to inform all of you. I have been flying helicopters for 33 years with 21,000 hours. landing in high wind and on ice is tough. Let me second guess here, with a solid place to land they may have thought it was better to land and pickup all 9 at once, instead of an hour of winching one by one. With 70 mph winds you have to actually FLY the Aircraft while on the ground. If you get a sideways gust and the Aircraft tips to one side the wheel can be a pivot point, it can get in to Dynamic Roll-over and there is nothing the pilot can do. I commend the crew for their effort in this rescue.