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Old 19th Oct 2008, 01:34
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Gomer Pylot
 
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Vertalot, a couple of corrections. It's not the first helicopter on the scene. In theory, the nearest helicopter should be called, but often it depends on the whim of the local EMS dispatcher or crew. I've never heard of multiple helicopters launching on their own, like wrecker trucks.

Talking to a meteorologist and getting accurate weather information isn't an option. The flight service station system has been privatized, and the last time I called for weather information, the briefer was in Minnesota, a couple of thousand miles away, and had no more information than I could get from reading the METARs. It's not possible to talk to an actual meteorologist, just someone in a windowless room miles away who just reads the data on his computer screen. With METAR stations as much as a hundred miles apart, the only way to get accurate weather information is to go look at it. That's the result of privatization and using the lowest bidder, or more often now, no bidder at all, just whomever has made the largest 'campaign contributions'.
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