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Yana
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PostSun Aug 19, 2018 11:06 am 
NPS rescue helicopter flew over us going southbound while we were on the approach to Glacier Peak on Friday. Anyone know of any accidents that might have occurred (likely in NCNP)? The helicopter is based at Mt. Rainier but contracted for all national parks in Washington, so I assume it was coming back from a mission.

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Ringangleclaw
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PostSun Aug 19, 2018 11:39 am 
Yana wrote:
NPS rescue helicopter flew over us going southbound while we were on the approach to Glacier Peak on Friday. Anyone know of any accidents that might have occurred (likely in NCNP)? The helicopter is based at Mt. Rainier but contracted for all national parks in Washington, so I assume it was coming back from a mission.
What a waste of money. Yosemite doesn't even do that. Seems like pooling funds with the counties would be much more fiscally responsible.

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Yana
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PostSun Aug 19, 2018 11:50 am 
Upon perusing the one not entirely blurry photo of it that I got, I don't think it's the NPS helicopter (slightly different paint job, body is yellow, but unlike the NPS helo which has a black painted tail, this one had a white one), though they have been up in NCNP a number of times this year. I read an article that said it costs $2900/day. I can't remember the duration - they only do this during part of the year. I can't speak to the reasons behind the choice to contract a helicopter in such a way, but money isn't or shouldn't always be the bottom line. There is a lot to be said, for example, about familiarity between an air crew and both the terrain they work in and the personnel they work with (on the ground or via short haul). I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "pooling funds with the counties." - most counties in Washington State, including all the ones with National Parks in them, don't own/operate rescue capable helicopters.

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Kim Brown
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PostSun Aug 19, 2018 12:12 pm 
Probably helos are at a premium, given all the wildfires. And if multiple SAR is going on, that could bring in units from other places. But to the actual question, I have no answer.

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Schroder
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PostSun Aug 19, 2018 1:44 pm 
I saw one cruising around Park Butte a couple of weeks ago & landed briefly a couple of times. They looked like they were out joyriding. After landing near us they headed for Bacon Pk.

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cascadeclimber
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 8:56 am 
Ringangleclaw wrote:
What a waste of money.
Just the tiny little tip of the iceberg as far as MORA goes.

If not now, when?
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iron
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 11:59 am 
Schroder wrote:
I saw one cruising around Park Butte a couple of weeks ago & landed briefly a couple of times. They looked like they were out joyriding. After landing near us they headed for Bacon Pk.
saw that 2 years ago at PB. seemed like practice?

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Yana
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 12:04 pm 
iron wrote:
saw that 2 years ago at PB. seemed like practice?
Without a photo this is merely speculation on my part, but the Border Patrol has, at least in the past, frequented the more northern parts of Washington mountains via helicopter, sometimes with the described behavior. There are also areas, though it would surprise me if Park Butte was one, where companies fly their employees in and out of on a regular basis (one example is Copper Lake near Vesper Peak/Big Four). Flying in designated wilderness and national parks is fairly regulated (which doesn't necessarily exclude joy riding, of course), but national forests are open to much broader air "audience", if you will.

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Ringangleclaw
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PostMon Aug 20, 2018 12:20 pm 
Yana wrote:
There are also areas, though it would surprise me if Park Butte was one, where companies fly their employees in and out of on a regular basis (one example is Copper Lake near Vesper Peak/Big Four). Flying in designated wilderness and national parks is fairly regulated (which doesn't necessarily exclude joy riding, of course), but national forests are open to much broader air "audience", if you will.
And while the USFS and USGS has to ask permission on bended knee to fly into wilderness for official buisness, Customs and Border Protection can kind of do what they want

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