Surely, in these times of austerity, it must be a viable task to fly on,
otherwise it's just a waste of time & money.
Would the same Senior Officer still "order" you to deploy if your response was :
"In my professional opinion, having considered all available information, it is not viable to deploy the helicopter on this task, and the costs of doing so will therefore be passed to your department if you order us to do so."
Unless the "Senior Officer" is a POLSA trained officer, it is unlikely that they fully appreciate the capabilities of the aircraft, equipment, costs etc etc,
and knowing they have to hand the job over to the next shift, are turning it into an "ACE" job ( Arse Covering Exercise ).
Out of interest, how many ASU's have POLSA Officers, or Misper Search advisers on their crew, that technically "trump" the knowledge of the "Senior Officer" making the request ?
