Helicopter Rescues in Tasmania "2"

[DanShell]

I was under the impression parks have no issue with you postponing your olt walk due to poor conditions, they just won't allow you to bring it forward?

[Nuts]

Ok, as far as i'm aware (which is never at 100%), if there is a 'bushwalkers weather alert' you can (try to) re-book for a later date with places free.
Other than that there's no alternative?

[DanShell]

Ok, as far as i'm aware (which is never at 100%), if there is a 'bushwalkers weather alert' you can (try to) re-book for a later date with places free.
Other than that there's no alternative?

You could be right but Id hate to be the person that told someone they couldnt have a spot at a later date because there were none available, so that person left in bad conditions.......got lost........you know the rest

[Mark F]

I haven't read the rules in ultra fine detail but what is there to stop you picking up your pass on the nominated day but only starting the walk some time later?

Edit - book for November and start at Christmas

[matagi]

A quick perusal of the Terms and Conditions of booking states that your booking is for a nominated day of departure, which would suggest you need to depart on that day.
I had heard from several sources that you could delay your departure up to 24 hours but I can find nothing to confirm this on the Parks website nor is there anything about it in the Terms and Conditions.

[tastrax]

I can't imagine it would be an issue at this time of the year as the track is seldom fully booked in May. Peak season it could be an issue due to not wanting overcrowding in the huts.

Ring the office for a confirmation

[dee_legg]

http://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/ ... ,_Kang.pdf

Timely release of the Coroner's findings of a death of an OTL walker in a similar area/scenario to what played out earlier in the week.

Dee

[Nuts]

Interesting findings. Between the gasps, i'm sure that highlights a very typical scenario (and the limits of investigation..)
For this poor chap, one with a not so lucky outcome. If not for that effort to help, sounds like it could well have been two incredulous tragedies that night.

[Overlandman]

How to keep safe in Tasmania bushwalking,
Story from the Examiner.
No mention of a PLB!
Regards OLM

http://www.examiner.com.au/story/464117 ... s/?cs=5312

[tastrekker]

I have just returned from a 12-day traverse of the Western and Eastern Arthurs. We started from the same location and on the same day as the recent helicopter rescuees. I have some theories regarding a couple of oddities mentioned by some posts. That is the mysterious "Scotts Peak Circuit" and the solo walker who said they were on the right track.

During our walk we encountered the rescue helicopter but had not heard the outcome. On our way home this Friday we finally heard the missing walkers had been found on Thursday last week. We were overjoyed! What amazing news. Congratulations to everyone involved - rescuers, rescuees, family and the broader community.

So… After reading the posts on this forum there are 2 issues I'd like to address.

The solo walker who said our rescuees were on the right track - We met a single bloke close to the start of our walk. With the track being so indistinct in beaura patches down that valley there's every chance Mr Ward and son simply asked if they were on the track at all. The answer would be yes. If that conversation happened early-ish in the morning within a fairly short distance of the road it would not seem too odd to see people out without overnight gear. In a place like that I like to engage everyone I meet in conversation to at least see where people have come from and where they're going. However not everyone is like me. I don't think we can read too much into Mr Solo Walker telling our rescuees they were on the right track.

What is the Scotts Peak Circuit? - I believe this is the biggest contributor to the predicament. The registration booth at Scotts Peak has a very faded 1:100,000 map with colour-coded routes, each labelled with a 2-digit number. (I'm going from memory here so hopefully someone may have a photo to confirm my theory.) There are many routes listed including destinations like Melaleuca, the Huon Track and some Western Arthurs options. Two of the routes mention Lake Oberon, one being there and back via Alpha Moraine and the other a loop returning via Kappa Moraine. The full loop to/from Lucifer Ridge (Lake Roseanne) is also pictured. With a terribly faded map and no other information at their disposal, the intending day-walkers picked the shortest loop walk available. I do not believe there is anything on the map to indicate the length of the walks involved. If I'm correct this is the simplest thing which could be fixed to have an immediate preventative impact.

[Mountain Rocket]

Seems we are getting a new additional rescue chopper.

A Second $9M Medical and Rescue Helicopter

Ensuring we have adequate resources in times of need is behind the Hodgman Liberal Government’s decision to spend $9 million on a second medical and police search and rescue helicopter in the 2017-18 State Budget.

With the Budget back on track this second helicopter will allow more Tasmanians to get the treatment they need sooner and when every second counts.

The addition of this new helicopter will bring the state’s fleet to two and secure the continued use of our BK117 helicopter across the Ambulance Tasmania Aero-Medical and Retrieval Service and Tasmania Police Search and Rescue.At the moment Tasmania has only one BK117 and uses a smaller AS355 as required.

The new helicopter will aid in medical retrievals and search and rescue emergencies – which with the significant increase in tourist numbers to the state, has also seen a rise in the number of flying hours of the fleet from 377 in the 2014-15 financial year to 623 in 2015-16.

It will increase the capacity of both AT's Aero-Medical and Retrieval Service and Tasmania Police Search and Rescue and allow our specially trained air paramedics to provide an important ongoing service, as well as ensure we continue to meet increasing demand from across the state.

The helicopter will be delivered in conjunction with the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management.The investment in a second helicopter will further support our Budget spend on patient transport services announced last year, as well as complement the new helipad at the North
West Regional Hospital and those at the Launceston General Hospital and the future rooftop helipad at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

The Hodgman Government is Building Tasmania’s Future by continued and ongoing investment in critical services that save lives, and ensuring Tasmanians get the health services they deserve with another year of record investment.

https://www.facebook.com/thevigilantene ... 944550578/

[Overlandman]

Rotorlift have 3 x BK 117 machines registered in Australia.
VH-EMS, VH-BKR, VH-RSQ.
On occasions you will see two outside the Hobart airport hanger, both painted in the rescue colours.
I had heard on the grapevine Rotorlift are looking at an Airbus EC145 T2

http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/news- ... f319~.html

[Overlandman]

From the Examiner

Also mentions the free emergency + app that gives you your current map coordinates.

http://www.examiner.com.au/story/469097 ... t/?cs=5312

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter has rescued a man who became disorientated while descending in darkness from the summit of Mt. Amos on the state’s East Coast.

About 7pm on Saturday Tasmania Police received a mobile call from a 41-year-old Victorian man who had become lost on Mount Amos.

The Advocate report says 6 rescued?

Thanks Strider for the clarification. Classic Advocate journalist

Monday update
The Advocate actually published the story in today's paper about the 6 being rescued.

[Strider]

Advocate has mistakenly quoted this incident from February

http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasma ... 53e1141061

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Overlandman]

It's been a while since the rescue chopper has been used.
Hoping for a good outcome

From ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-08/t ... an/8784194

A rescue helicopter and ground crews are searching for a missing 21-year-old Victorian man in the Thousands Lakes area in the Central Highlands.

Police were notified at 7:30pm last night that the man — who had been fishing with friends — did not return after walking ahead of the group near Lake Ada.

Temperatures in the region were below zero overnight, reaching 1.6 degrees Celsius this morning.

The group arrived early Monday morning at Lake Ada with plans to fish all day at Lake Tin Hut.

The man walked ahead, and his friends last saw him fishing at Sandy Lake.

[SergeantMcFly]

Article is updated now, he's been found alive and well

[Rick]

Stupid!

[tastrekker]

A quicker outcome than a search in a similar area back in the 1930s. This little book is well worth a read to compare similarities and differences between searches today and back then:
HIGGS, Alvin. Lost on the Western Tiers : a graphic account of the experiences of Alvin Higgs who was given up for lost but was found after days of hardship and privation.
'The Story of Alvin Higgs as told by himself'. The 'beetling brows' of Western Tiers lie south of the fertile plains of Tasmania's northern districts. Higgs, a returned soldier and lay-preacher in not-so-good health, set out for a solo walk from Meander towards Great Lake – into the wild country he 'thought he knew so well' – after his intended companions preferred another activity for the day. He became lost on top of the mountain range after a thick mist descended and, despite the efforts of many search parties, spent six days in the bush before eventually finding his way back to the settled districts. He wrote and published this account of his ordeal 'trusting that the romance of the story may be... understood in the right spirit, and that it may have a purpose, and be a help and a blessing to the many readers'

[north-north-west]

Was the track named after him or is that coincidental?

[tastrekker]

It was named after Sydney Higgs. They would be the same family but I'm not sure of the connection. Perhaps father/son.

[Overlandman]

Helicopter is searching for a lost boy
Hope for a good outcome

http://www.theadvocate.com.au/story/486 ... t/?cs=5312

[matagi]

Northern and North-West SAR teams are at Cradle doing an exercise with TasPol, chopper there too - so there are some bodies "ready to go" already in the area (roughly speaking)

[Overlandman]

Found safe and well
Good job done by all involved
Regards OLM

[Strider]

It was named after Sydney Higgs. They would be the same family but I'm not sure of the connection. Perhaps father/son.

Uncle/nephew

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Overlandman]

Vale Roger Corbin.
Sadly Roger Corbin was killed in yesterdays helicopter accident at Hobart Airport.
Roger was chief pilot at RotorLift and has been involved in many of the rescues in this thread & trained other rescue pilots.

Deepest sympathy to Allana & the girls, RotorLift staff, family and friends.
Hoping that the injured pilot makes a speedy recovery.
OLM

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-08/r ... rt/9128098

[Overlandman]

From the Mercury
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasma ... 696a59809e

A 74-YEAR-OLD Howrah man has been rescued after disappearing while bushwalking in the state’s remote south west.

The man became separated from his wife at Moonlight Ridge in the Southwest National Park’s Southern Ranges while trying to find a camp site.

The wife called authorities about 7pm yesterday.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was sent in, but could not reach the area due to low cloud.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Terrible tragedy. Such a shame the training couldn’t be conducted in a simulator.

RIP.

[Wherever I may roam]

http://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/376965/Jin,_Kang.pdf

Timely release of the Coroner's findings of a death of an OTL walker in a similar area/scenario to what played out earlier in the week.

Dee

I note on page 4 of the report that an EPIRB was set off but was ineffective due to the location. I assumed the point of carrying an EPIRB is that it was indentifiable from anywhere and essentially pinpoint your location. Clearly this is not the case?

[wildwanderer]

http://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/376965/Jin,_Kang.pdf

Timely release of the Coroner's findings of a death of an OTL walker in a similar area/scenario to what played out earlier in the week.

Dee

I note on page 4 of the report that an EPIRB was set off but was ineffective due to the location. I assumed the point of carrying an EPIRB is that it was indentifiable from anywhere and essentially pinpoint your location. Clearly this is not the case?

A PLB (or EPIRB) needs line of sight to a satellite to contact rescue authorities. If they were located in heavily forested area or deep in a valley in mountainous country its quite possible that the unit couldnt get a satelite lock. Further down the report it says they also had a sat phone which also had trouble getting a connection. When the sat phone finally did get a connection Id say a satellite must have been directly overhead.

Its surprising how much view of the sky these things need. I remember being unable to use a satellite phone standing on a beach (with a big cliff next to me). Despite at least 90 degrees of open sky I couldn't get a connection. (I was just unlucky there wasn't a satellite in that 90 degree line of sight.)

Some further info from the maritime safety authority http://beacons.amsa.gov.au/about/how-they-work.asp

"The time it takes for search and rescue personnel to reach you depends on a number of factors, including the weather, terrain and accessibility of your location. The more remote the location of the distress incident, the longer the response time. In all instances, be prepared to survive.

Satellites cannot detect beacons through mountains, trees or buildings. If your beacon has not been deployed correctly with the aerial vertical in a clear open area or you are located in a valley, geostationary (GEO) satellites are unlikely to see you. In these cases, you must wait for polar-orbiting (LEO) satellites to pass overhead, which may take several hours."

[Azza]

I note on page 4 of the report that an EPIRB was set off but was ineffective due to the location. I assumed the point of carrying an EPIRB is that it was indentifiable from anywhere and essentially pinpoint your location. Clearly this is not the case?

People often don't appreciate the complexities of this technology and how it works.
The consumer has a device with a button and expectations that its fool proof.

The frequency used by EPIRB's is 406MHz. This is microwave frequency, they travel really well in straight lines but are absorbed by water (Think Microwave oven), you need that high frequency to get up to the satellite.
So climatic conditions and terrain play a big part.
On the ground GPS requires multiple satellite to be able to calculate the position accurately, then it is transmitted up to the satellite. So you need good visibility of the sky for the unit to get a fix.
You might ask why isn't it the other way around? This is why the non-GPS units don't have good accuracy, its not easy to pin point the location from space.
http://www.bushwalking101.org/how-a-plb-works/

A lot of devices have 121MHz beacons which pretty much just a signal. You can triangulate the positions. Aircraft are equiped with receivers. It doesn't give you pin point accuracy.

So its not a given that the device will always perform optimally, it does it best to get something out.