Automated Rescue Procedures

The article featured in Rotor Magazines Spring 2019 issue, titled ‘Too Much Fun’, is a reminder of a how increasing the enjoyment factor of flying can result in tragedy. It is also a reminder of how technology and human monitoring can let the victims down while they lie in freezing conditions waiting to be rescued.

The article, written by David Jack Kenny, explains how a very experienced air ambulance pilot flew into a canyon ridge and how it took over two hours for the communication center to notice the crash had occurred. It then took another two and a half hours for search and rescue to arrive on the scene.

The failure to notice the crash was a combination of unfortunate events – similar to what you see leading up to aircraft emergency or crash. Failings in this instance were from the emergency locator beacon and the workload of the person monitoring the aircraft’s location.

A little-known capability called A.R.M would have been invaluable. A.R.M stands for Automated Rescue Monitoring and it ensures the right people are notified at the right time when the unexpected occurs. We wrote an article on A.R.M in September 2017 simply titled ‘Automated Rescue Monitoring (A.R.M)’. Click here to read more.