TV Inquiry
Thread Starter
TV Inquiry
Copied this from another site, thought maybe there would be a Rotorhead who has a story they might use. I looked at their web site and it has this story in production.
http://www.mhptv.com/
Greetings,
We are a television production company in the San Francisco Bay Area producing a documentary about the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, and we are researching a question we have about emergency response helicopter pilots.
Shortly after the earthquake hit San Francisco, a helicopter was sent up from the San Francisco Fire Department to assess the damage. In a situation like this we are wondering what a pilot would look for, and where they would choose to fly first and why.
More specifically, if they are sent up to assess how much damage has been done to a particular area, what do they look for? Smoke, crowds of people, structural damage, etc.? Also, which direction would they choose to fly--towards the most heavily populated areas, along major commuter routes, etc.?
Any experience you can relate to us regarding an emergency pilot's priorities and telltale signs they look for when they are sent up over a city, especially in the case of a widespread disaster such as an earthquake, would be very helpful.
Feel free to respond to my post or, if you would rather contact me directly, please send me an e-mail.
Thank you very much,
Bryan Ranharter
[email protected]
http://www.mhptv.com/
Greetings,
We are a television production company in the San Francisco Bay Area producing a documentary about the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, and we are researching a question we have about emergency response helicopter pilots.
Shortly after the earthquake hit San Francisco, a helicopter was sent up from the San Francisco Fire Department to assess the damage. In a situation like this we are wondering what a pilot would look for, and where they would choose to fly first and why.
More specifically, if they are sent up to assess how much damage has been done to a particular area, what do they look for? Smoke, crowds of people, structural damage, etc.? Also, which direction would they choose to fly--towards the most heavily populated areas, along major commuter routes, etc.?
Any experience you can relate to us regarding an emergency pilot's priorities and telltale signs they look for when they are sent up over a city, especially in the case of a widespread disaster such as an earthquake, would be very helpful.
Feel free to respond to my post or, if you would rather contact me directly, please send me an e-mail.
Thank you very much,
Bryan Ranharter
[email protected]
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Monterrey Mexico
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Hmmm.
The pilot would be flying wherever the boss says so.
And the boss, would most likely go first bridges, tunnels (from outside offcourse), main roads, and offcourse crowds and smoke too.. Its difficult to say, it depends on the situation.
Also probably to supplies like power supplies, water, gas, oil, etc.
And the boss, would most likely go first bridges, tunnels (from outside offcourse), main roads, and offcourse crowds and smoke too.. Its difficult to say, it depends on the situation.
Also probably to supplies like power supplies, water, gas, oil, etc.
Join Date: Jan 2005
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I don't personally know the SF story, but I'll bet local emergency services (fire, police, EMS, etc.) have determined all the target hazards and their priorities in a response pre-plan. And, I'll bet that SF pilot was being directed by Incident Command to those priority targets. Those target hazards (based on probability and scope of life-risk) will change dependent on time of day, large public events, weather, etc. For instance, they may assess Giant's stadium first if there is a World Series game in progress but ignore it if there wasn't. Also identified in the plan are the hazards that can "take out" a large population of people if damaged (i.e., chemical plants, large propane farms, nuclear power plants) especially those upwind of population centers. I would bet the plan is public record and would give the reporter a good foundation.
