Cazatou
<<Agreed - but what do you say to the relatives of those on board if it has the same result?>> Unless you had been suckered in, wouldn’t you just stay off a bit? – otherwise, just blame the pilots ...
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<< They didn't have time to wait for someone to find a photographer>> - mmm – perhaps it was the other helicopter that came along but I have been told now that relevant photos were after all taken – I’ll post them as soon as I get them.
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<<Landed at landing pad near lighthouse...>> no they did not.
I have it from a person of authority on the scene that both it and the other attending helicopter that arrived a bit later ended up on the more spacious landing area pictured in the link below (looks like a green triangle) – where he said larger helicopters had landed before and where he thought the Chinook may have been attempting to land (the position relating to waypoint A is just off the edge – an obvious inner marker). The helipad nearer the light house is too small. The person also described the fog as not extending to any great height as there were frequent breaks in it such that one could see its extent (obviously this applies to below the solid orographic cloud – seems rather like my understanding of the conditions).
http://s229.photobucket.com/albums/e...t=44e784ab.jpg
This "green triangle" is spacious, level, and firm - and guess what? - the handling pilots baro alt had a pressure setting that would have given zero on that ground (a QFI or happenstance?) - sort of goes with the minimum setting for a RADALT alarm (landing in marginal conditions?).
You don't have to go along with all of it, just try and get some progress happening.