Sorry 212man, I can't come to the same conclusion. The article was written by a veteran
pr man / press officer. Jean-Louis Espes is an expert at ‘telling it like it aint’. Sounds more like a plea in mitigation to me. I guess that we won’t hear the true story from either side for several years.
As several rescue missions were flown on behalf of the Nepalese authorities during the trial I can only assume that Eurocopter were out to enhance their chances of securing a sizeable sale. I am sure this ‘invasion of a sacred mountain’ will be remembered when the subject gets around to discounts.
Perhaps the local operators will also remember the rice that has been stolen from their bowl by Eurocopter as a result of them providing free rescue flights when it comes time for these operators to buy replacement machines. At periods when tourist numbers are down due to the activities of the Maoists local operators rely heavily on the need for rescue flights to stay in business.
Perhaps J-LE is going to be a busy man in the coming months controlling the damage caused by this ‘tremendous achievement’. As Shawn Coyle rightly, IMHO, said, “Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should do it.”