I was hoisting a patient in a skedco during a training exercise, years ago, and riding up as a barrelman (attached to the hook). The patients weight shifted in the sked as it lifted off the ground and turned the sked into a wing, catching air. We went into a fierce spin about halfway up and the tagline snapped. was on the verge of unconscious by the time I made it to the ramp (CV-22) and I remember the look on the aircrews face when they got me on board, shock. The spin was so bad they thought the cable was going to snap. All that said, happy to see an innovation that many probably wouldn't even think about until after a catastrophe. Don't even get me started on taglines..
Its amazing military men and women will risk their own lives to make sure a hurt battle buddy is saved and is able to get back to their family and see their loved ones again. That’s what this technology does, it makes that a winnable situation. Because this guy is going to be safe, and this guy doesn’t have to put himself at additional risk to make that happen. My story would have been vastly different if this technology was there, if I could roll back the hands of time and create and implement this technology before my rescue I would. Technology is cheap. Lives are priceless”. See more from video here; Helicopter Rescue Spinning Basket Survivor - Ken Bowling
The Vita system has performed flawlessly under the challenging conditions of the UAE environment which includes desert, mountains, salt water, and temperatures up to 48 deg C. We are looking forward to fielding the system on all of our AW139s.
