09-17-2019, 04:25 PM
SBH - even using helicopters for emergency-only operations is not acceptable. They only fly in daylight and in VFR conditions. That means you could have a medical emergency on the mountain without having access to transportation off the mountain. It's why the MK observatories withdrew their summit crews at the start of the protest; it was an unacceptable risk to keep them on the mountain.
In the meantime, the observatories found ways to mitigate the risks to the instrumentation in other ways without risking people, but the option of helicopter evacuations is still a possibility in the direst of situations - we've talked to the tour companies about this. But if we're not given notice of a full out blockage of the highway we could end up with dozens of people stuck on the mountain.
In the meantime, the observatories found ways to mitigate the risks to the instrumentation in other ways without risking people, but the option of helicopter evacuations is still a possibility in the direst of situations - we've talked to the tour companies about this. But if we're not given notice of a full out blockage of the highway we could end up with dozens of people stuck on the mountain.