tecpilot: An desk officer from the austrian aviation authority as part time pilot in the private air rescue business pressed the button and dropped the most experienced high mountain rescuer in that part of the Alps to dead. Wonder why it's allways the same helicopter operator in the headlines of Austria.
What's your point here? Or should I ask which company you work for, Wucher or ÖAMTC? Blaming the pilot and the company a few hours after the accident is nothing short of being biased and unprofessional! You do work in the same field of occupation, doing high mountain rescues, do you?
Then please explain why this so highly experienced individual that tragically lost his life didn't call the rescue off. According to the Austrian press he had never worked with that operator or that particular pilot before. He must have seen the deteriorating weather conditions and the high winds too? They all knew that at that point they were only recovering a dead body from the crevasse anyways. Was there no briefing about wind, weather, the situation in general and the "get there" options between the three guys on the line and the pilot before they decided to use the most risky insertion method? Was there no other landing option available? A safer landing site or a toe-in maybe? These rescues are team efforts and every person involved has the right and obligation to analyse the risk and speak up or call the rescue off if they have doubts. That is not only the pilots responsibility! They had many things against them and yet they decided to proceed with probably the most risky method.Why did nobody disagree and why did they not explore other ways?
And just to be clear here ... I do not know the pilot nor do I have any sympathy for a civil aviation inspector who tries to prove himself as a part time mountain rescue pilot. But, I presume he met all the requirements to do such a job, including CRM and human external load training. So what else could have been done by the helicopter operator to avoid this particular tragedy unless it was a technical malfunction that caused the accident?
Sitting at a desk, bashing at the pilot and the operator not even a day after a fatal accident is very sad indeed! But everybody who knows the helicopter business in Austria a little bit, also knows that that is common policy there and nothing else is to be expected. I don't know of any other country where operators report their competitors to the authorities like that and many pilots are led by resentment and jealousy in a way they are in the Austrian helicopter business. I'm almost surprised that you haven't started shooting each other down yet! Everywhere else in the world you might not like your competitors, but you do respect them and their pilots and you help each other out in difficult times. Maybe that's worth a thought for you!
Last edited by Kowalskii; 1st May 2012 at 00:36.