Originally Posted by
SASless
The big basket thing exists.....Columbia Helicopter or Erickson had a version for use in evacuating people from Tall Buildings.
Other sources for such baskets are out there......
Multi Person Helicopter Rescue capability does already exist; as linked by SASless.
The concept is based around moving up to 15 people per lift cycle from a specifically designed rescue basket that is flown from the cargo hook, not the winch. Crucially, it is not designed to
replace winch based rescue, rather, it is designed to complement it in situations such as the MV Viking Sky emergency, where the sheer number of people require rescue.
Fareastdriver made the following points:
Originally Posted by
Fareastdriver
It always looks very nice on paper but underslung loads have a mind of their own.
The first problem is getting people to get into it. With you toes toasting on top of a building there is lots of encouragement but with 150,000 tons or so of steel still above the water maybe not so much.
Once they are in they have to be pulled.off fairly rapidly or the basket will start to spin. The blurb quotes 126 knots, a 332L with six drums of diesel on a 60 ft. strop and internally loaded to 19,500 lbs. will cruise at a max 90 knots at 1,000 ft. Your survivors won't fly as well as full drums so it's going to be slower. Even if it cruises at 60 knots at 5 degrees C the wind chill means that your passengers will be feeling minus 4. How long can they put up with that when they are in nightclothes and a lifejacket?
Over any sort of distance the time saved by packing them into a wire box will be lost because of the transit times compared with winching them in followed a high speed cruise.
An adjacent rescue vehicle, like a ship, will have it's own boats to shuttle with.
OK for it's designed purpose, but no good for cruise liners.
I'll address each point in turn:
"The first problem is getting people to get into it". I put it to you that if the ship is on fire, or is sinking, or is drifting towards rocks etc, then the motivation to get into a rescue device might be heightened somewhat? In this instance, the captain was concerned enough for the ships safety and integrity to order an evacuation. It was obviously in enough danger (or perceived danger) to warrant the call.
"Once they are in they have to be pulled.off fairly rapidly or the basket will start to spin" No! We have tested the Multi Person Helicopter Rescue baskets at up to 120kts with an asymmetric weighted load and they do not spin. As can be seen on the video here on our website (I'm too new and I'm not allowed to post a link!!)
"
Over any sort of distance the time saved by packing them into a wire box will be lost because of the transit times compared with winching them in followed a high speed cruise." It's important to remember that the capability is designed to take high number of people from the point of danger to a place of "
relative safety" That could be a nearby ship, or in the Norwegian example to land, which was only a few hundred meters away. A complete lift cycle for up to 15 people can be completed - including the drop off a few hundred meters from the scene is around 10 minutes. That around 75 people per hour, per aircraft.
"
OK for it's designed purpose, but no good for cruise liners" I disagree! This is precisely the type of emergency that Multi Person Helicopter Rescue was designed to address.
I wrote an article on this on LinkedIn that covers most of these points and more. I'll post a link as soon as I"m allowed!!