MovieChat Forums > Combat Hospital (2011) Discussion > Isn't it a little unsafe...

Isn't it a little unsafe...


To be landing helicopters in a tiny clearing surrounded by shipping containers?

That's just asking for trouble.

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Possibly, but where else would they land and still be close to the hospital? Besides, the Role 3 at Kandahar Air Field was actually right beside the airfield.

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So... land helicopters at the airfield?

You see their "helipad"? They have maybe 5 feet of clearance in each direction tops between all those shipping containers. That's five feet between a safe landing and causing millions of dollars in rotor and engine damage and ground personnel casualties. Not exactly ideal for rapid landing and dust off to a) get patients on the ground fast, and b) make room for following MEDEVAC and CASEVAC helos.

Also, there's barely enough room to land a Huey variant. How are they supposed to fit something like a Blackhawk?

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It's a show dealing with a limited budget and limited set space. You can't ask them to recreate the whole of Kandahar International Airport now can you?

~Thanato

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Perhaps, but...

- They ARE landing them there.

- It is a tv show which sometimes requires 'suspension of disbelief'.

- It could be argued that the containers are there by design to protect the medical staff and the helicopters from sniper fire and IEDs.

- In real-life, Air-Ambulance helicopters land in places just a tight all the time (eg: road intersections surrounded by light poles, hydro wires, etc, when responding to motor vehicle accidents).


JMHO



Wolf



"I Drank What?!" - Socrates

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Wolf,

I suspect you've never been to KAF -- there is no threat of IEDs or sniper fire inside the wire there. ("Five O'Clock Charlie" type rocket attacks on the other hand...)

You are more on target with you middle comment about willing suspension of disbelief, driven in this case in particular by budget issues I dare say. Indeed, my thought was that the key impression one got in KAF was wide open (desert hot) air and flat expanse, which is what the series so signally failed to give a sense of. But to be fair, for what I'm sure they had to work with in the way of resources, they did as good a job as anyone could do.

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