The Future Of Mountain Rescue
A pilot in a jet suit akin to Iron Man recently arrived to a fictitious victim high in the hills during a test mission in the Lake District. But will mountain rescuers of the future really be using rockets instead of boots?
Will mountain rescue be carried out by futuristic flying paramedics? This week, jet suit pilot Richard Browning conducted a test fly to a simulated casualty site on the Langdale Pikes, bringing the intriguing idea to life.
Andy Mawson, director of operations at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNNAS), had an idea that a jet suit paramedic could get to mountain casualties in the Lake District much faster than a ground-based team after learning about the jet suits that Browning’s company, Gravity Industries, was developing.
“It showed dozens of patients within the complex but relatively small geographical footprint of the Lakes every month,” the speaker stated. We were able to recognize the necessity. How this would function in reality is something we were unsure of. Now that we’ve seen it, I can honestly say that it’s fantastic.
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It would ordinarily take around 25 minutes to walk to the valley bottom from the simulated casualty scene on The Band near Bowfell; however, the jet suit arrived there in under 90 seconds.
“We believe that this technology could allow our team to reach some patients much more quickly than ever before,” Mawson continued. This would relieve the patient’s pain in a lot of situations. It would save their lives in some situations.
“Will The Jet Suit Flyers Be Saved By Us?”
What does the successful test flight signify for teams who rescue people in mountains? Jet suit paramedics would be an adjunct to current resources, according to Mawson, who made it plain that airplanes and ground-based mountain rescue teams would “remain a vital part of the emergency response in this terrain.”
The Great Outdoors talked with officials of the mountain rescue squad, but they were reticent. Mountain Rescue England and Wales’ Operations Director, Mike Margeson, stated, “This is really so new it would not be fair to say we have any view about yet” (MREW). “In a rescue situation, our general approach is to use all potentially helpful and available resources.”
Though there are a number of concerns regarding the weather, visibility, darkness, wind speed, need for a pilot’s license, etc. Will the jet suit fliers be saved by us?
Additionally, Gravity Industries notes that choosing to fly over “unsafe” terrain poses the most danger to the safety of their jet suits. Richard Browning, the creator of the firm, explains, “We limit the majority of our flying to over grass, water, or low altitude, so the risk of failure is minimised and no dissimilar to falling off a motorcycle.”
It’s unclear how this strategy may perform in the hills. However, it’s not surprising that the concept of jet-powered mountain rescue heroes sprinting to the rescue has captivated the public’s attention in an era of constant negative news reports.
Get To Know The Pilot In The Jet Suit Who Could Help Mountain Rescue Teams.
Richard Browning, a businessman and test flight pilot from the Lake District, was asked how he brought the idea of a superhero to life.
Where Did The Concept Of The “Jet Suit” Originate?
Looking back, I realized that my motivation came from seeing my father, an aviation engineer, build things in his workshop and pilot model gliders with him until his untimely death when I was fifteen. My other grandpa was Sir Basil Blackwell, who had operated Westland Helicopters in the United Kingdom; his father had been a military and commercial pilot.
My six years in the Royal Marine Reserve [inspired] a genuine love for human potential and the adaptability of the human body and mind with the right motivation and training. I had the concept there that, with the correct amount of horsepower added and depending just on the mind and body for everything else—no seat, yoke, or stick, no autopilot—it would be possible to create a completely new kind of true human flight.
