Landing on Everest

[FD2]

For your interest. Probably couldn't do it now because it's too crowded! Brave man - with one engine....

[Sisemen]

No room for error there! And definitely a one-way trip if anything had gone wrong.

[Cacophonix]

Didier Delsalle may be the guy who landed on Everest

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle

But I also have huge respect for the guys that save climbers and other folks at high altitude in those mountains...

A high-altitude rescue team is setting new standards in the Himalayas this season, performing the highest altitude longline rescue ever completed. On May 19th, an elite rescue team successfully rescued a mountaineer from near Camp 3 at 23,000 feet (7000m) on Everest. The climber, a Nepalese born, naturalized Canadian citizen named Sudarshan Gautam, who is also a double amputee after an accident flying a kite into overhead powerlines took both of his arms at 14 years of age, reached the summit but became extremely exhausted and severely dehydrated on the descent. The rescue helicopter, crewed by alpinists Maurizio Folini, Simone Moro and Armin Senoner, was called to make the rescue at “around 23,000 feet,” which is right near the maximum altitude that a helicopter is able to fly. After a tricky and dangerous rescue, the team was able to successfully evacuate Gautam.

The rescue marks a milestone for the Himalayan mountaineering community and kindles hope and discussion for the future of high-altitude rescue operations in the world’s highest mountains.

In an interview with Moro, who made headlines earlier in the Everest season after a highly publicized altercation with Sherpas on April 26th, Senoner and Folini for Planetmountain.com, Folini was quoted stating, “You don’t suddenly improvise a flight of this sort, just like all flights aren’t improvised. You have to be prepared, technically, physically and also mentally.” Moro added, “the aim wasn’t to set a record but to save someone’s life.”

The team has been flying rescue missions using Nepalese helicopters for two years but had the idea to create an autonomous team with its own helicopter, which he has been able to accomplish this season. The entire operation is privately financed, and according to Moro, “doesn’t cost the Italian or Nepalese taxpayer a single cent.” Moro also flies missions for the local population for “free or at extremely reduced prices.”

Moro sees potential for the expansion of high-altitude Himalayan rescue operations. In the future, he hopes to see more than one team/helicopter, as well as a specialized team of alpinists/Sherpas that would be able to perform rescues at altitudes and in weather conditions that are impossible for helicopters.

and like these guys...



With this growing ability to pull off rescues that couldn't be contemplated before comes the potential for fraud and sharp practice!


https://www.thebmc.co.uk/helicopter-rescue-nepal


Caco

[Cacophonix]

Air Zermatt are at the pinnacle of the art, science and practice of such rescues worldwide.



Caco

[CharlieOneSix]

Re the Everest landing,I seem to remember that the almost standard reduction in VNE with altitude regardless of type was 3kts IAS/1000ft. I don't know the SL VNE for an AS350B3 but say it's 130kts. At 24000ft his VNE would be around 58kts IAS. I'm guessing but I'd bet he also wasn't far off retreating blade stall at that speed and altitude. The helicopter equivalent of the fixed-wing coffin corner.

[FD2]

It must have felt a bit like balancing on the head of a pin, but very carefully... I remember we flew a Mk 3 Wessex over Asmara, then Ethiopia, at 8500 ft and +30 and it wasn’t very comfortable!

[FD2]

You must have done the full height climb in the Wessex C16.

I did it over Culdrose in the Sea King - great view on a nice day - we even had parachutes, though I wasn't sure how safe jumping out of an out-of-control helicopter would be, in case I got down in several pieces!

[CharlieOneSix]

I never did the full height climb in a Wessex but did a dual 10000ft in a Whirlwind HAS7 over the St. Erth area whilst a stude on 705. Effect of controls etc at altitude. Took ages to get up there - we should have taken sandwiches.

When that was all done my instructor gave me a practice engine failure and to my eternal shame I managed to undershoot the field he designated for me at 10000ft!

We also had parachutes for the height climb - I think it was compulsory over 3000ft at that time in case of fire. I think the idea in a Wessex was you got everybody else out then you sat on the window sill having trimmed the stick to port, then you let go of the cyclic and rolled out backwards as the helicopter banked to the left. I think you had to be an optimist! Not much good in a Whirlwind though with its floppy cyclic.

The only bail out I heard of was when John Dickens was flying the EH101 (Merlin) pre-production trials at Yeovil and they had a control problem when the tail rotor went to full pitch. From memory he got his crew out before he took to his chute.

EDIT: Found this: Accident to EH101 ZF644 - 7 April 1995

[FD2]

"Double Engine Failure - Go!" I also missed the runway - God knows how.

I found the Whirlwind pretty floppy at sea level - it must have taken delicate handling up there - I wouldn't have taken a bet on it actually getting that high!

I'd completely forgotten about the Merlin bail out.

[Ex-Ascot]

You chopper guys are crazy.

[Boac]

Do bears...............?

[Cacophonix]

The very first parachute jump I ever saw was made from a Super Frelon helicopter at a relatively low altitude and one of the chutes was opened very close, too close, to the aircraft and the downdraught partially collapsed the canopy leading to a very low inflation and immediate 'firm' landing, albeit "bang" on target.

Clearly parachutes and helicopters are antithetical to each other even when the latter is under control.

Caco

[CharlieOneSix]

It must have been around '69 or '70 and I was based for a few days at the delightful Shobdon airfield in Herefordshire doing some aerial work tasks. One night I was drinking in the aeroclub bar and got chatting to two guys who were members of the local parachute club and who had never jumped from a helicopter. Somehow I agreed to take them up to 5000ft the next day and chuck them out for a free fall jump.

I took both doors off the Bell 47J2 and we staggered up to the agreed altitude. They were sitting on the floor with their feet on the skids, one jumper each side of the helicopter. Unfortunately they did not depart at the same instant and the helicopter rolled quite badly one way and then the other as they left. It was only some time later that I found out that a) you had to have dispensation to drop things from aircraft and b) the aircraft type had to have a clearance to drop parachutists. The ignorance of youth! The things you agree to after a few beers....

[Cacophonix]

With this growing ability to pull off rescues that couldn't be contemplated before comes the potential for fraud and sharp practice!


https://www.thebmc.co.uk/helicopter-rescue-nepal

Caco

And in a spooky case of prescience on my part, my good friend was being casevaced from just below base camp last week on Everest after taking a tumble on the way down that has left him with a damaged kneecap. Despite insurance he was left for 24 hours while the companies involved picked up groups that had paid more through the unscrupulous middle men. Ultimately he was picked up and was treated in Kathmandu before flying to UK where he is recuperating with Caco and other friends!

The charter company concerned did a great job when they finally got the call but ultimately the agenda is being compromised by multiple conflicts of interest, mostly in the hands of the middle men who take a cut and this is what lies at the root of the issues noted in the article above!

Help was finally at hand.JPG (74.16 KiB) Viewed 925 times

Landing.JPG (107.79 KiB) Viewed 925 times

The Kiwi pilot is a top guy but the same can't be said of the insurance middle men.JPG (123.1 KiB) Viewed 925 times

Caco

[Seenenough]

A B3 remains one of the better lifters around.

I flew a B4 demo and then later some emergency procedures in France with Didier Desalle who was the Eurcopter Pilot who did the Everest touchdown with the severely lightened B3 some years later.

[Cacophonix]

A B3 remains one of the better lifters around.

I flew a B4 demo and then later some emergency procedures in France with Didier Desalle who was the Eurcopter Pilot who did the Everest touchdown with the severely lightened B3 some years later.

I found Didier Desalle's personal history very interesting as highlighted on his Wiki profile...

Clearly a very skillful pilot and a brave man...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle

Ref. the Everest summit landing.

This accomplishment had required extensive testing on site, especially because of the low atmospheric pressure available for the helicopter rotors, winds over 299 km/h (186 mph) at these altitudes, and oxygen depletion for both Desalle and his helicopter's engine. Desalle had to find areas of downdrafts and updrafts to complete the flight, stating: "I found an updraft so strong that I could rise up with almost no power."

Delsalle repeated the Everest summit landing the next day, May 15, 2005, to prove that the previous day had not been simple luck. Conditions the second day were much more difficult, but Delsalle chose not to wait any longer so as not to squander the opportunity for 'conventional' climbers waiting to summit Everest during the limited good weather conditions available in May.

Desalle used a virtually standard version of the Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel B3, only removing unnecessary elements, such as passenger seats, to reduce the standard weight by 120 kg (265 lb) and thus extend the 1-hour fuel range.

Interview with Didier DeSalle

Caco