Medevac question

Chock · 10-12-07, 10:45 AM

No doubt some of you saw the 'One Life' BBC TV programme the other night, which followed RAF 27 Sqd as their Chinooks deployed to Afghanistan. And I wondered what anyone who saw it thought about this.

At one point in the programme, the scrambling of a medevac chopper to a combat zone was covered. The crew were shown awaiting the call and then rushing to the aircraft where it was stated that they did the pre-flight in around 12 minutes as opposed to the much longer normal time it takes, they then took off, flew to a combat zone and picked up a soldier who had a serious chest wound, and flew him to a field hospital. During the flight, the medics were trying to save the soldier, but unfortunately he was pronounced DOA. Now here is the question:

I was reading about medevac choppers in Vietnam the other day, and learned that the pilots would pre-flight the aircraft right up to the point of switching on the fuel and pulling the start triggers, and then leave the aircraft standing like that. When the call came to do a medevac, the co-pilot and gunners would run to the chopper, start it up while the P1 pilot checked the route out on maps, then he would run to the aircraft. He would then strap himself in and put on his chest armor while the P2 pilot was running up the engine, then the P1 pilot would take off while the P2 pilot finished strapping himeself in and put his chest armor plate on. Thus they would be airborne in about 1 minute and 30 seconds, the US Army demanding that they be airborne in no more than 3 minutes.

Now, obviously a CH-47 Chinook is not the same as a UH-1D Huey and the checks and systems are different, not to mention there are two engines to start up, but it struck me that the Chinook crew on the TV programme ought to have done something similar, as they might have made it to the field hospital a few minutes sooner, which may or may not have saved the soldier's life, but certainly would not have hurt.

I must say it concerned me that this seems a rather obvious thing to do, as opposed to sitting on the ground for over ten minutes running through a bunch of checks which you could have done hours ago. The only thing I can think of is that they may possibly have been waiting for the INS to align itself, but I would think that this is unlikely to be needed with GPS available.

Chock

bradclark1 · 10-12-07, 01:47 PM

I've never heard of a Chinook being used for a on-call medevac before. A Chinooks top speed is 170 knots while a Blackhawk is 'don't go above 193 knots' which means it goes faster then that. A know a Chinook sprouts hydraulic leaks if you look at it funny so hydraulic systems check would be all I can think of. It's a bigger target. Using a Chinook for a medevac makes no sense to me unless it happens to be flying in the immediate area.

10-12-07, 10:45 AM	#1
Chock Sea Lord Join Date: May 2005 Location: Under a thermal layer in chilly Olde England Posts: 1,842 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Medevac question No doubt some of you saw the 'One Life' BBC TV programme the other night, which followed RAF 27 Sqd as their Chinooks deployed to Afghanistan. And I wondered what anyone who saw it thought about this. At one point in the programme, the scrambling of a medevac chopper to a combat zone was covered. The crew were shown awaiting the call and then rushing to the aircraft where it was stated that they did the pre-flight in around 12 minutes as opposed to the much longer normal time it takes, they then took off, flew to a combat zone and picked up a soldier who had a serious chest wound, and flew him to a field hospital. During the flight, the medics were trying to save the soldier, but unfortunately he was pronounced DOA. Now here is the question: I was reading about medevac choppers in Vietnam the other day, and learned that the pilots would pre-flight the aircraft right up to the point of switching on the fuel and pulling the start triggers, and then leave the aircraft standing like that. When the call came to do a medevac, the co-pilot and gunners would run to the chopper, start it up while the P1 pilot checked the route out on maps, then he would run to the aircraft. He would then strap himself in and put on his chest armor while the P2 pilot was running up the engine, then the P1 pilot would take off while the P2 pilot finished strapping himeself in and put his chest armor plate on. Thus they would be airborne in about 1 minute and 30 seconds, the US Army demanding that they be airborne in no more than 3 minutes. Now, obviously a CH-47 Chinook is not the same as a UH-1D Huey and the checks and systems are different, not to mention there are two engines to start up, but it struck me that the Chinook crew on the TV programme ought to have done something similar, as they might have made it to the field hospital a few minutes sooner, which may or may not have saved the soldier's life, but certainly would not have hurt. I must say it concerned me that this seems a rather obvious thing to do, as opposed to sitting on the ground for over ten minutes running through a bunch of checks which you could have done hours ago. The only thing I can think of is that they may possibly have been waiting for the INS to align itself, but I would think that this is unlikely to be needed with GPS available. Chock __________________

10-12-07, 01:47 PM	#2
bradclark1 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Connecticut, USA. Posts: 2,794 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	I've never heard of a Chinook being used for a on-call medevac before. A Chinooks top speed is 170 knots while a Blackhawk is 'don't go above 193 knots' which means it goes faster then that. A know a Chinook sprouts hydraulic leaks if you look at it funny so hydraulic systems check would be all I can think of. It's a bigger target. Using a Chinook for a medevac makes no sense to me unless it happens to be flying in the immediate area.