Hope for High Alt. Rescue...

[Quack]

They landed a helicopter on the summit of Everest! http://www.everestnews.com/stories2005/everestcopter05232005.htm

 

[sapblatt]

Aviation wise this is amazing!
Climbing wise I hope it does not lead to foolish and rsiky decisions as people will figure they can always be baled out by the helicopter.

 

[Bjarni]

I'm surprised that Everest's summit has enough room for a helicopter to land. None of the photos or film I've seen make it appear sufficiently broad and flat. Opinions?

 

[Quack]

Climbing wise I hope it does not lead to foolish and rsiky decisions as people will figure they can always be baled out by the helicopter.

I agree that it could be a double edged sword to a certain degree.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Hopefully people will understand that there is a tremendous difference in doing what that pilot did, tremendous feat though it was, and lifting another 200 or so pounds off of the peak.

That is an entirely different matter.

High altitude aircraft are usually striped to the bone to accomplish these types of feats.

Keith

 

[RGF1]

It could lead to problems in some places . Out west helicopter rescuses are fairly common. This is beacuse of the long distance beween the site of a incident be it a mountain SAR or some one geting severly injured at home or work and a Hospital .For some it can be over 300 miles. . I was very surpised to see that a helicopter had flown that high. I had thought that somewhere around 20,000 ft was the limit due to the low air pressure .

 

[DougPaul]

Impressive.

I second what Keith said...
Also running on fumes.

And the percentage of the time that conditions are suitable for such landings is rather small.

Very dangerous for the pilot (who is unlikely to be acclimatized)--if his oxygen system fails, he is unconcious within a few minutes and dead in a half hour (if I remember the numbers correctly).

Doug

 

[Rick]

This is absolutely stunning. Can you imagine the look on a climber that is just cresting the final few feet only to have a chopper breeze over head, land and have someone pop out.
I am assuming there must be perfect barometric situations for the air at this altitude to support the aircraft.

It probably won;t be long before the Nepal Gov't buys a slew of these Ecureuil/AStar's and starts selling landing passes to tourists.
BTW, sign me up

 

[Mike P.]

Call me a cynic, I'm going to have to see this on another site or commented on in one of the climber's or guide companies journals.

 

[Quack]

same story, different source.....

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200505251036.htm

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

Climbers reported seeing the helo trying to land. There's suppose to be a video of it somewhere.

Edit: Eurocopter's website confirms the story. Quite a feat.
I wonder if this is the beginning of a new sport, Helo-Peakbagging.lol.

http://www.mounteverest.net/story/Todaysnewscast-videoofrecordchopperMay112005.shtml
http://www.mounteverest.net/story/MysteryChopperlandsontopofEverestMay242005.shtml
http://www.eurocopter.com/publications/FO/scripts/newsFO_accueil.php?arbo=1&noeu_id=42&lang=EN#

 

[DougPaul]

Call me a cynic, I'm going to have to see this on another site or commented on in one of the climber's or guide companies journals.

I have no trouble believing the report--but it is an advertising stunt. It is the equivalent of breaking the sound barrier in a car--showing it can be done in a specially modified or purpose-built vehicle under perfect conditions is a far cry from being able to do anything useful under normal conditions.

For aircraft performance records, it is common practice to strip the aircraft of anything possible, including the paint, the copilot, and any "excess" fuel. And it wouldn't surprise me if they waited for specific weather conditions--high pressure and perhaps a steady (but relatively gentle) breeze from a specific direction so they could take advantage of the updraft.

Fantastic achievement and indicator of potential performance, but call again when you can do it with a useful payload. Or tell me what the service ceiling is, again with a useful payload.

edit:
Found a spec sheet off http://www.eurocopter.com/site/FO/scripts/siteFO_contenu.php?arbo=2&noeu_id=82&lang=EN
Hover ceiling in ground effect at take-off power: >7000m.
(This is an indication of how high a heilocoptor can land and take off. The number is for a light-weight configuration.)

Doug

 

[Quack]

It seems, from the pictures and press release, that the helicopter isn't anything too crazy. That being said, I don't know enough about helicopters to judge. Anyway, I'm not in the market so I'm just going to remain impressed and hope that somdeay I'm able to get to the top the old fashioned way......

..with LOTS of oxygen, fixed ropes and a team of 30 Sherpas carrying the heavy stuff!

 

[Bjarni]

I remain in the dark regarding exactly where the helicopter landed. There's a beacon and other assorted debris at the summit, which is not flat. Did it land on the summit or not, and if so, wouldn't the stuff stuck at the top have been blown away or crushed? Is there a flat enough area near the summit for a landing?

 

[DougPaul]

I remain in the dark regarding exactly where the helicopter landed. There's a beacon and other assorted debris at the summit, which is not flat. Did it land on the summit or not, and if so, wouldn't the stuff stuck at the top have been blown away or crushed? Is there a flat enough area near the summit for a landing?

Don't know exactly where the landing was, but high winds (150+mph) are quite normal at the summit of Everest. The jet streams can hit it and 100mi snow plumes are not uncommon.

Might even be worse than Mt Washington.

Doug

 

[--M.]

No kidding. My wife saw this and said the chopper needs a bumper sticker: "This helicopter climbed Mt. Everest."

 

[KZKlimber]

Does anyone else think this was a foolish stunt that risked littering the summit of the world's highest peak with wreckage forever????

I can see taking such risks for a rescue mission lower on the mountain - but not to put the aircraft or a passenger on top.

 

[Miau]

The aforementioned video

http://www.mounteverest.net/story/FrenchEverestMysteryChoppersUtopiasummit-VIDEOMay272005.shtml

 

[DougPaul]

http://www.mounteverest.net/story/FrenchEverestMysteryChoppersUtopiasummit-VIDEOMay272005.shtml

Movie and pics at:
http://www.eurocopter.com/everest/

Shows the landing spot--looks like the true summit to me.

The movie shows a hover-with-one-skid-down kind of landing. (There wasn't a flat spot big enough for both skids.)

Some very nice pictures...

A great achievement--today's stunt can become tomorrow's capability.

Doug

 

[Head]

Thats unreal!! That gives a new meaning to EXTREME!