This should be interesting, (Mexican Rescue Techniques)
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2002
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From: N20,W99
This should be interesting, (Mexican Rescue Techniques)
Ok so the story is, yesterday there was a fire in an office building here in Mexico City, smoke and fire going up the stairs, people getting intoxicated, the Mexico State Police helicopters are called in to pull people off the roof, the RED KOALA with a winch, but they were slow, so here comes the Mexico City Police, the BLUE TEAM, with an AS350 and 355 with no winch to hover over the roof so they hover over the building and have people jump onto the helicopter, see for yourself and give your opinion (Be Kind I'm a Pilot with the Blue Team) 
Keep in Mind this building is at 9,100 Feet and the Temperature was a cozy 28 degrees celsius.
Here is the Video:
Keep in Mind this building is at 9,100 Feet and the Temperature was a cozy 28 degrees celsius.
Here is the Video:
Last edited by BlenderPilot; 24th May 2012 at 01:09.
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Redding CA, or on a fire somewhere
Nice. It was probably not the safest thing to do, but under the circumstances---or "perceived" circumstances... sometimes you do what you have to do...... I am a great believer in doing things on the fly when the situation calls for it.
I am sure there will be many who will not approve.
I am sure there will be many who will not approve.
Joined: Nov 2007
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From: Yellow Brick Road
Quite a spectacular bit of hovering there. The police Squirrels were actually pointing themselves into wind a bit more than the Koala, and held their positions well despite pax embarkation. I also liked the way they gained airspeed by diving away into the wind - I guess the Koala had masses of reserve power and can descend steeply and slowly without the risk of developing VRS ?
Joined: Apr 2006
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From: In the mountains
Good flying under the circumstances...
A few things to look at if you're in the same situation:
For the Kuala - there's a perfectly good building top next door at the same height which could have been used to swing the people across to instead of going to the ground and wasting even more time. This seems to be a very nice training exercise in winching where you had the time.
For the 350/355 - try not to have the people rush into the helicopter, this is where it can go wrong quite quickly with weight shifting when you are off the ground. Secondly, most roof tops are sound enough with strong steel beams supporting everything. Use the same techniques used by the powerline workers where the pilot will put one skid on the pylon while the workers climb in/out. This makes it much more stable...
A few things to look at if you're in the same situation:
For the Kuala - there's a perfectly good building top next door at the same height which could have been used to swing the people across to instead of going to the ground and wasting even more time. This seems to be a very nice training exercise in winching where you had the time.
For the 350/355 - try not to have the people rush into the helicopter, this is where it can go wrong quite quickly with weight shifting when you are off the ground. Secondly, most roof tops are sound enough with strong steel beams supporting everything. Use the same techniques used by the powerline workers where the pilot will put one skid on the pylon while the workers climb in/out. This makes it much more stable...
Joined: Jun 2009
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From: South East Asia
Yes, great job by all concerned - including those waiting to be rescued who appear to be surprisingly calm under the circumstances, and it's particulary nice to see that chivalry isn't completely dead - notice that the ladies went first.
Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Under my coconut tree
Those skids sure do get in the way of a smooth winch recovery...
Fare to say also that apart from the DA, it looked pretty gusty and turbulent up there, so good job guy's.
Fare to say also that apart from the DA, it looked pretty gusty and turbulent up there, so good job guy's.
Joined: May 2002
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
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From: Downeast
Just another day at work for the pilots and crews.
As Gordy rightly says....when it comes to situations like these....get stuck in and do it as safely as you can.....the goal is for everyone to go home for their Supper that night.
I would have dropped my Observer to handle the loading of the passengers and would have agreed upon how many I would take....then put a skid onto the roof top as high on the roof as possible to maintain plenty of blade clearance as possible.
Swinging the folks over to the next building makes a lot of sense as suggested....and if I had the resources I would have done a double lift of passengers using a crewman or other Rescue person at the receiving end. Thus doubling up on my haul rate.
But job well done by all!
As Gordy rightly says....when it comes to situations like these....get stuck in and do it as safely as you can.....the goal is for everyone to go home for their Supper that night.
I would have dropped my Observer to handle the loading of the passengers and would have agreed upon how many I would take....then put a skid onto the roof top as high on the roof as possible to maintain plenty of blade clearance as possible.
Swinging the folks over to the next building makes a lot of sense as suggested....and if I had the resources I would have done a double lift of passengers using a crewman or other Rescue person at the receiving end. Thus doubling up on my haul rate.
But job well done by all!
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 1,605
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From: UK
Cracking rescue
IMHO I would also have thought the roof would have been easily strong enough for you to touch down on it with the skids lightly loaded which then makes it a safer environment all round by that I mean only the weight shift of taking people on.
What happened to the people you could still see in the offices?
IMHO I would also have thought the roof would have been easily strong enough for you to touch down on it with the skids lightly loaded which then makes it a safer environment all round by that I mean only the weight shift of taking people on.
What happened to the people you could still see in the offices?
