A record-breaking aerial rescue on Nepal’s Mount
Annapurna has underscored the performance capabilities of Eurocopter’s
AS350 Ecureuil helicopter in extreme conditions – including the most
challenging high-altitude operations.
Three Spanish mountain climbers were successfully airlifted by the
Fishtail Air AS350 B3 from a 6,900 meter-high location using the
“longline” technique, in which a rescuer is suspended at the end of a
long rope for insertions/extractions from difficult terrain.
The April 29 operation was part of special rescue flights being
performed in a cooperative effort involving Fishtail Air, a charter
helicopter company based at Kathmandu, Nepal, and Switzerland’s Air
Zermatt.
This mission utilized Fishtail Air’s second AS350 B3, which arrived
in Nepal on March 1 to join a helicopter fleet that includes an AS350 B
and one AS350 B2, along with the company’s first AS350 B3.
Air Zermatt’s Capt. Daniel Aufdenblatten performed the rescue, while
Swiss Mountain Guide Richard Lenner was deployed as a human sling to
lift the stranded climbers on the longline – evacuating them one-by-one
to a base camp at an altitude of 4,000 meters. The climbers had been
stranded 36 hours on Mount Annapurna.
In addition to this difficult operation, Fishtail Air’s newest AS350
B3 also rescued four Korean climbers and three Nepalese Sherpas on April
26 from Nepal’s Mount Manaslu, extracting them at an altitude of
approximately 6,500 meters. Piloting the helicopter was Fishtail Capt.
Sabin Basnyat, who was joined by Air Zermatt’s Daniel Aufdenblatten and
Richi Lehner. Mount Manaslu is the world’s eighth highest mountain,
while Mount Annapurna is the tenth highest.
“These rescues are tributes to the crews’ professionalism, as well as
the capability of our AS350 Ecureuil and the AS550 Fennec military
version to deliver performance and reliability in the most extreme
conditions,” said Eurocopter Group President and CEO Lutz Bertling.
About Eurocopter
Established in 1992, the
Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a division of EADS, a world
leader in aerospace, defense and related services. The Eurocopter Group
employs approximately 15,600 people. In 2009, Eurocopter confirmed its
position as the world’s No. 1 helicopter manufacturer in the civil and
parapublic market, with a turnover of 4.6 billion euros, orders for 344
new helicopters, and a 52 percent market share in the civil and
parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group’s products account for 30 percent
of the total world helicopter fleet. Its strong worldwide presence is
ensured by its 18 subsidiaries on five continents, along with an
extensive network of distributors, certified agents and maintenance
centers. More than 10,500 Eurocopter helicopters currently are in
service with over 2,800 customers in more than 140 countries. Eurocopter
offers the largest civil and military helicopter range in the world.
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