simonmm said...
If they were so well prepared, why did their 'support' crew initiate a rescue on the first evening. The very fact that they got rescued, regardless of circumstances, indicates poor preparation in some way.
They weren't rescued. They were, in fact, already safe.
The fact that the rescue service was called out doesn't necessary indicate poor preparation. All it indicates is that a mistake was made. It would be interesting to find out what that was.
If they were well prepared, they would have had a sat phone or radio so that they could let the authorities know not to bother with any rescue rather than activating an EPIRB. Their support crew would have not worried after their delay because they could contact them and let them know everything was OK, and their families would not have had to worry about them karking it.
Yeah, they seem to have understimated the likelihood of being out of mobile range in the case were they had to camp or bail out. A lesson for next time. Doesn't make them irresponsible nongs.
On a last note, any rescue potentially puts the lives of the rescuers in danger and has a direct cost to the organisations that run the rescue services. Unnecessary rescues do potentially endanger lives and are definately a waste of money that could be better used where really needed.
No, some rescues may potentially put the lives of rescuers in danger but all rescues do not. In this one, for example, its hard to see how anyone's live was put in danger.
No, all rescues do not have a direct cost. Rescues services will have to exist and will have to run exercises to be prepared whether real emergencies occur or not. The incremental cost to the rescue service for this call out could well be zero. Although that six-winged plane does look like a petrol guzzler.
It would be interesting to hear the story from the guys who did it --- lessons learned, and so on.
Classic. Got a bit of time on your hands echo? Hope you're on the mend.
