So when there is a need to hover taxi up a mountain in cloud, will it only be done if the casualty has life-threatening injuries (if you actually know that at the time) or will there be times where you just say 'f88k it' and leave them to it.
Jim, you know that many helicopter extractions are often conducted because leaving the MRT to do it would put them at significant risk with a stretcher in poor weather on treacherous terrain - how do you feel about the 'super-safe' SAR crew letting you get on with it because there is a 1 x 10-5 or even 10-6 chance of a single engine failure?
What next? No night decks because you might end up in the water if a donk stops?????
The whole point of having all the best kit is so that the technology mitigates some of the inevitable operating risks (through increased reliability and performance) of doing the job in the way it sometimes has to be done.
No one says “**** it”. What they will do is assess whether the risks to be taken are appropriate to the task and act accordingly. The “super safe” SAR crew is going to weigh up the risks involved in flying or winching MRT and act accordingly. And as I engage with MRT regularly, let me tell you Crab that they feel just fine about that.