Helicopter knocks out cable car, killing nine.

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
hmm. what are the odds? the cable car in a 90 deg angle to the helicopter
route, both at decent speed.
if you WANT to hit the target under these circumstances you probably won't
make it.

I don't know how they run things in Europe, but around here, Murphy's Law
prevails.

I agree that carrying a hazardous load over an operating cable car was poor
judgment. No matter how unlikely a bad outcome might have been.

Pete

"well, planes (up to B737 etc.) at our local airport here (LOWI) depart
over
the city, too. we can't shut down the whole city for all those planes.
And
our rescue helicopters are flying over our highways, too. halting the
traffic on this very highway brings half od Europe to a stop. "

Now there's a silly comparison! There's a difference between an
airliner taking off or LifeFlight helicopter flying to and from a
hospital and a helicopter carrying an external load and probably
operating near its performance limit (mountainous terrain, heavy load)
over children and tourists. In Europe, are school kids allowed to tour
local construction sites and stand underneath as materials are lifted?
If this is prohibited in Europe, the same common sense applies to the
even more dangerous operation of helicopters lifting concrete.

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
well, planes (up to B737 etc.) at our local airport here (LOWI) depart
over
the city, too. we can't shut down the whole city for all those planes.

Ever heard of "cost/benefit analysis"?

And our rescue helicopters are flying over our highways, too. halting the
traffic on this very highway brings half od Europe to a stop.

Are your rescue helicopters carrying 750kg blocks of concrete? If so, you
may want to reconsider a) where you have them fly, and b) what they are
carrying. If not, I fail to see the relevance.

The point here is that the cost of rerouting the helicopter or temporarily
suspending operation of the cable car is incredibly small, compared to the
potential cost of an accident, no matter how unlikely.

Pete