Dramatic lake rescue footage released

[explorer99]

You know that feeling you get when you know exactly what's going to happpen, way before it does?

Downwash, especially when using increased Tq during tight maneouvreing, can be vicious even from a light twin. 'Gusting' downwash vs small, unstable craft will not end well.

Accepting this is only a 'snapshot' of the whole incident and doesn't accurately describe the bigger picture, it would be unfair to criticise harshly. Using this snapshot as an illustration, though, there's a salutory lesson here about excessive task focus. The pressures of rescue tasking can be very high, especially with no local specialist helos and with cameras pointing at you; while the actions here were obviously well intended, this video clearly shows why it's so important to avoid 'tunnel vision'.

All concerned will have learned some valuable lessons here. If those in the boat were OK then they and the helo crew will be the wiser for it, I suspect. 1 fatality is bad, but 4 would have been far worse.

E99