08-16-2010, 10:31 AM
No rescues involved, unless you're talking pot. On Sunday I personally watched the yellow helicopter pick up two men (one at a time) on the line and then drop them behind some houses just off the Red Road in Kalapana. A few minutes later it retrieved them along with a small amount of (presumably) marijuana plants, in one case tied below the man and in the other in the man's hands. I believe the longish thing at the end of the line is merely a weight.
The yellow one is similar to the county rescue helicopter (good one, btw, Greg) but is not the same one. I saw it land on the lava about 75 feet from the RR to drop off and then lift up the two men and it has no orange coloring like on Chopper 1. It's likely rented for the Green Harvest operation, guided by a bigger chopper that probably is one of the two that the DEA bases at Hilo Airport.
There's also a discussion of this on Tiff's blog:
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/?p=16531
The yellow one is similar to the county rescue helicopter (good one, btw, Greg) but is not the same one. I saw it land on the lava about 75 feet from the RR to drop off and then lift up the two men and it has no orange coloring like on Chopper 1. It's likely rented for the Green Harvest operation, guided by a bigger chopper that probably is one of the two that the DEA bases at Hilo Airport.
There's also a discussion of this on Tiff's blog:
http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/?p=16531