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-   -   Tokyo Fire Department helicopter drops a 70-year-old woman during winch rescue. (https://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/626364-tokyo-fire-department-helicopter-drops-70-year-old-woman-during-winch-rescue.html)

Tiger G 15th Oct 2019 10:31

Tokyo Fire Department helicopter drops a 70-year-old woman during winch rescue.
 
As stated in the title, the Tokyo fire department drop a 70 yr old woman during a winch rescue.

(VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED)

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=knTsE_1571017688

Mods: if deemed inappropriate for this forum, please delete, and my apologies in advance.

nomorehelosforme 15th Oct 2019 11:28

I saw that yesterday, pretty grim. The really tragic part is that the poor lady was almost at the helicopter door when it happened, must have been very distressing for all concerned.

blackdog7 15th Oct 2019 14:44

Perhaps it would have been a lot safer to use a class D fixed line to move the victim(patient) to the area where this tragedy was filmed from and all the spectators were watching.

[email protected] 15th Oct 2019 15:09

Or perhaps winch much, much lower

heliduck 15th Oct 2019 16:18

When the crewman is winched back down after the incident it appears that he is beside a car, & the water level is just up to the bottom of the window. Perhaps we rely too much on Helicopters & have forgone the art of wading or using a small boat.

Terrible outcome for all concerned to have survived the storm & then have this happen.

Fareastdriver 15th Oct 2019 17:55

Should she have been in a standard strop she probably raised her arms to grasp the hands at the door and slipped through.

Tailstinger 15th Oct 2019 18:03


Originally Posted by [email protected] (Post 10594979)
Or perhaps winch much, much lower

and how would that stop her from falling? It would only reduce their chances of a flyaway if they vere heavy, and of their calculations of that I know nothing about.

Did they use a single strap? Or a tripoint strap? The latter would definately be safer, especially with elder/weaker/heavier that might not be able to keep their arms down to avoid slipping out of the loop when lifted.
regards

[email protected] 15th Oct 2019 18:38

Another good reason for using a double strop rather than a single.

EMSSAR 15th Oct 2019 18:57

It appears it was Emergco Evac harness.

jimf671 17th Oct 2019 12:47

It so happens that in the last few days I have listened to several presentations about HHO, listened to several winchmen's stories about close calls with single rescue strops, and had a discussion with a representative of a regulator about this subject.

When people started doing this in the 1950s, rescued persons were often fit young airmen who had just banged out of rather unreliable fast jets. There was a military front-line risk profile and we didn't know the half of what we know now about either the physiology of rescue strops or the usefulness of helicopter rescue. It is time for all the users of rescue strops to take a good look at the way they operate and adapt to 21st Century reality.

EDIT
Emergco Evac? How much has to go wrong for that to fail?

[email protected] 17th Oct 2019 13:44

From their website

EVAC HARNESS

EMERGCO’s evacuation harness (“screamer suit”) is a helicopter rescue personnel-carrying device system (PCDS) that is easy and quick to put on. It is designed to physically encompass the torso to prevent the person from inadvertently falling out of the PCDS, and is safe to use with disabled or unconscious persons.

The harness is put on like a jacket—arms go through the armholes and a bottom flap comes up between the legs to a three-point connection at an approved snap link for attachment to a winch cable hook or other external load suspension line system master attachment point (MAP). The Evac Harness is ideal for use as part of Emergco’s Helicopter External Transport System (HETS).

The Deluxe Evac Harness is similar to Emergco’s Evac Harness, with the additional benefits of grips along the top edge, flotation band sewn into the collar, and a hole in the seat to drain water, making it more suited for use in marine rescue.

difficult to see how anyone could fall out of that.


and how would that stop her from falling?
falling from 20 feet is much more likely to be survivable - yes we don't know their performance calcs or OEI capability but that still seems very high. A lateral move to better ground to ensure she is fully locked into the harness before the long winch in might have been prudent.

jolihokistix 17th Oct 2019 15:18

Someone forgot to close the safety lock, I read on one news site.
Just such a sad outcome.

Fareastdriver 17th Oct 2019 17:58


falling from 20 feet is much more likely to be survivable
I'm with crab on this. I was taught that if a high hover was required to pick up the survivor if at all possible you launch the winchman on a low approach and climb towards and over the target as he is winched out. Conversely when both are on the wire you move them to an area where you can descend as they are winched in.

Fifteen feet AGL was a good figure.

roscoe1 17th Oct 2019 19:40

Aerial rescue should be a last or only possible resort. Because it is so quick and someone can be flown directly to first aid or trauma care it seems to make sense that everyone deserves a helicopter ride. It is a thing of beauty when all goes well. I have been around aerial rescue programs since 2010 and in that ime I can recall 6 or 7 fatalities in Australia, the US, the Middle East, Japan and I'm sure I didn't hear about all of them. I'm always pleased when I hear that a hoist equipped helicopter showed up and the crew decided that a ground rescue was appropriate and parked nearby while some folks humped out with the victim.
Perhaps an engineer smarter than I am could invent a hoist harness that is easy to put on an injured or unconscious person, stowable ( unlike a litter) that would not take more than a couple of pounds of load without coming detatched from the hook unless it was properly secured. It ain't rocket surgery to tripple check your work. Guess that just didn't happen here.

Tailstinger 17th Oct 2019 20:02


Originally Posted by [email protected] (Post 10596741)
From their website difficult to see how anyone could fall out of that.

falling from 20 feet is much more likely to be survivable - yes we don't know their performance calcs or OEI capability but that still seems very high. A lateral move to better ground to ensure she is fully locked into the harness before the long winch in might have been prudent.

15-20' hover with a Puma over a housing area? There will be some serious downwash with that low hover blowing all kinds of crap around and possibly damaging stuff or bystanders in the area. Of course hoisting might be done from many different heights, depending on references for the pilots or hoist operator, waves, movement of the ship, visibility, possibility of blowing loose rocks/trees/++ that might hit those on the ground. So no definite answer to that (though we have a default of 80' that might be adjusted up or down to suit each mission).
Checking that the patients (and anyone connected to the wire or monkeystraps) are correctly locked into their harnesses should be mandatory whatever height the hoisting is done from and that might have saved her in the first place.

peace :)

[email protected] 18th Oct 2019 12:08

From the Japan Times

A Tokyo Fire Department helicopter rescuing a 77-year-old woman in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, who had been isolated because of flooding caused by Typhoon Hagibis, accidentally dropped her about 40 meters to the ground because her rescuers did not properly attach her to the rope when they were attempting to winch her to safety during the botched operation.

She died after being taken to a hospital.

“We are deeply sorry for carrying out the wrong procedure” during the rescue operation, Hirofumi Shimizu, of the fire department, said.

According to the fire department, two personnel were taking part in the rescue operation, in which woman had been wrapped in a bag-shaped carrier and was being lifted up to the helicopter by rope.

One of the rescuers dropped her as he was placing her in a helicopter because she had not been properly secured to the rope, department officials said.

The two were conducting the rescue operation in front of her house, which was flooded by about 50 centimeters of water.
Did she really need a winching rescue from 50 cm of water???

Pugilistic Animus 4th Nov 2021 23:41


Originally Posted by [email protected] (Post 10597512)
From the Japan Times Did she really need a winching rescue from 50 cm of water???

white water perhaps?

[email protected] 5th Nov 2021 06:22


white water perhaps?
50 cm of moving water is enough to take you off your feet that is true - just a shame that having decided to winch her, they didn't take more care.


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