Zarg, did you really expect any different from the media? We (a VMR organisation that I am active within up here in Sydney) used to assist AusSAR to conduct "pads" drops off the northern beaches up here. This practice went out the window around 5-6 years ago (apparently due to financial constraint on the part of the regulatory authority). The resultant loss of our "currency" in retrieval methods and seagoing tactics for the effective collection of them has hit our organisation quite hard in the seabourne training bit. Another factor is the attrition rate of some of our more senior members, and what you have left is basically a team of willing people trying to do the best they can with no access to the training aids that used to be availiable to us. A local newspaper up here got hold of that little bit of info and tried their best to blow it out of all proportion, which served more to damage the public face of many rescue organisations.
There was also a little problem with the operator of the company the a/c were brought in through, however that doesn't require any further comment, only to say that others (not involved in any form of impropriety)lost out as well when he went down.
Just a sign of the times when we have reporters in the press who have ridden in an a/c at one time or another suddenly become all-seeing and all-knowing on all-things aviation. I think they seem to qualify this sort of reporting as "investigative jounalism".
(ed for a bit I missed out).
[ 26 August 2001: Message edited by: 429 CJ ]