Date:11/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/02/11/stories/2007021105781200.htm

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International

Unmanned helicopter to rescue Everest climbers

Ed Douglas

Alpine Wasp could take pressure off Sherpas and rescuers who risk their lives

— PHOTO: AP

Mark Inglis on his way up Mount Everest in this April 2006 file photo.

London: When Trevor Rogers told climber Mark Inglis he was building a helicopter that could rescue people from the summit of Everest, the New Zealand climber was sceptical. ``The first thing I said was, `Yeah, right!' I've got a real interest in helicopters, and I know a lot about their performance.''

As the first double amputee to climb the mountain, Mr. Inglis also knows a lot about overcoming improbable odds. Even so, what Mr. Rogers, president of the Auckland-based TGR Helicorp, proposed seemed like science fiction. Most helicopters are not designed to operate above a height of 4,300 metres and those that do, have to be modified.

After six years of research, Mr. Rogers told Mr. Inglis that his team had developed an unpiloted full-size helicopter called the Alpine Wasp, capable of flying autonomously at altitudes even beyond 9,000 metres, 150 metres above the summit of Everest, and a full 3,000 metres higher than anything achieved before, to carry two sick or injured climbers to safety.

Built from lightweight composite materials, the Alpine Wasp has a revolutionary diesel engine and rotor blades designed to function in the thin air of high altitude. TGR says its helicopter will be tested this spring in the New Zealand Alps. If all goes well, the Alpine Wasp will be stationed from spring 2008 in a specially constructed hangar in the sherpa town of Namche Bazaar, at 3440 metres on the route to the Everest base camp.

The Wasp, Mr. Rogers says, will use virtual reality systems at its base in Namche Bazaar and can even fly in fog close to the mountain to perform rescues. Climbers will be fitted with a tracking device in order to locate them, and once they are found the helicopter will lower a cable for hoisting.

``They have to be able to clip themselves on to the rope or be helped by another climber to be clipped on,'' a TGR spokeswoman said.

Mr. Inglis lost both his legs to frostbite after being stranded in a snow cave in 1982.

He says the Alpine Wasp could take pressure off Sherpas and Western mountaineers who put their lives at risk to perform rescues on Everest.