The CH-47 as the man is being rescued. Warzone/The Drive.
The Oregon National Guard deployed a CH-47 Chinook to rescue a suicidal man who had climbed Mt. Hood. War Zone/The Drive. The man called 911 and said that he had taken pills while climbing Mt. Hood. A six man rescue team climbed Mt. Hood to rescue him but could not get him back down due to unsafe conditions. A Chinook was brought in to rescue and initially landed at the summit. For unknown reasons they did not perform the rescue there and decided to use a "pinnacle landing" where the chopper balances on it's rear wheels.
My Comment:
First, a pair of videos. This one shows the uncut footage of the rescue...
The second one is a local news report that has interviews with some of the rescuers...
This is some pretty obvious high skill being displayed by the pilots of the Chinook. Though the pinnacle landing is a fairly common maneuver for Chinooks but to see it is pretty impressive. Those pilots must have had nerves of steel to see their rear rotor so close to the mountain like that.
I do have to wonder why on earth the man being rescued did what he did. Suicide attempts have always been a mystery for me anyways, but there have to be better ways to kill yourself than climbing a huge mountain and then swallowing pills. Perhaps this guy just wanted some help or something?
Either way, this rescue operation was a textbook one and all the rescuers involved deserve our respect and admiration.
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