[St. John.s city councillor Tom] Hann admitted he didn’t know enough about search and rescue to say whether or not a faster response would have made a difference to the outcome of last week’s crash.
“I can’t answer that question,” he said. “That’s an issue for the experts. But the only issue that I see is that, you know, I think it’s needed. Everybody says it is needed, but nothing has been done.”
The guy says he doesn’t know enough to anything of consequence at all and yet he makes a proposal to do something to deal with a situation about which he admits his own fundamental ignorance.
On top of that, he claims the idea of having a search and rescue unit in St. John’s is an issue best left to “experts” but at the same time, he wants to push this idea because “everybody” says it is needed.
So who are the experts he’s talking about?
Here’s a thought: maybe Tom can get together with Scott Simms and discuss relocating the search and rescue unit in Scott’s riding to St. John’s.
-srbp-
Tom, don’t expect to get a job with Sikorsky sales update: Just listening to Tom Hann on a night-time talk show doing an excellent job of demonstrating what he doesn’t know. Tom is familiar with these subjects since - as Tom put it - “I’ve flown the Cormorant.” Flown one or flown in one?
Anyway.
Newsflash, Tom - Both the Cormorant (EH-101) and the S-92 are built to fly search and rescue as well as transport and other missions. Next time you get a chance to talk to anyone federally you might ask about the new navy helicopter, the Cyclone, which is…wait for it…the S-92 in another guise. When it comes in service, it will be providing SAR back-up for the Cormorants.
Makes you wonder where Tom stood on the cancellation of the EH-101s in 1993? It’s a bit like listening to Scott Simms asking where the Cormorant back-up was while the entire squadron from Gander conducted a squadron full deployment exercise last week.
The back up was provided by Cougar. Here’s some video of a Cougar SAR training mission. You’ll find a few other vids of this from different angles.
Once this is all over, Rick Burt and the people at Cougar need to take Tom and his friends up for a spin and introduce them to the superlative staff flying SAR missions for the company.
7 comments:
I'm being sarcastic when I say this:
Sure!..Move SAR to St. John's and then watch them be grounded from any resue possibilities because of FOG
I think some people are forgetting the weather basics, let alone centrally locating SAR resources.
It's an election year.
For the love of dog, won't someone think about the potholes?
Potholes, schmott holes. Why talk about stuff the city IS responsible for when you can talk about stuff you know nothign about.
Like running a hockey club (they got suckered big time last week) or search and rescue?
will somebody explicitly tell this idiot that the only person rescued and the only other body found on the surface of the water were picked up by the Cougar Sikorsky and its SAR team. clearly they can perform the service. and *if* anyone else had got out of the aircraft and survived the water impact, they would have been in the same survival suits as the one person who survived and would have 24 hours. you could bring all all the Coast Guard SAR locations across the country in that time.
and before Captain Cormorant down at City Hall says - well, the survival suits might not work as well as the technical specs say, and they might not sustain a person for 24 hours - let me just say that those suits go through the same kind of review before feild use as the Cormorants and their rescue baskets.
i have rarely seen a more naked, precipitous and repulsive act of political opportunism. he will NEVER get my vote.
I can understand the necessity of SAR but what Hann and O'Keefe are advocating is the government of Canada provid escort service to oil companies that have more money than they know what to do with. Like having the RCMP stand watch over the Avalon Mall.
While it may not be political opportunism, babe, it certainly comes across that way.
There are experts in this area who are currently investigating this crash. There are other experts who will be reviewing other aspects. Their recommendations may well include other ideas which will increase the chances of survival if not in this case specifically then it others.
That sort of process is one of the reasons why the local offshore has had such a strong record of safety. Taking a 25 year old single recommendation isn't really the obvious answer either. A great deal has changed including the capabilities of the aircraft and other technologies avilable.
SAR on the whole east coast of the country can be examined but at first blush, putting a new bacth of helicopters in St. John's won't necessarily be an improvement in the absence of some other changes.
When people admit they know nothing of the subject other than having flown I one of the aircraft, I'd be automatically doubtful the suggestions that person makes have anything more attached to them than a desire to see some good come out of a tragedy.
Politicians would be well advised to let the experts do their work and then work diligently to implement the expert advice. Anything else runs the risk of - at the very least - appearing to be political opportunism.
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