An extraordinary attempt of a pilot to save the life of an injured skier has come into notice. We are talking about a pilot who partially landed on a steep mountainside in the French Alps with the aircraft's nose and rotors just inches from the snow to rescue an injured skier.
The skilful rescue took place during a ski touring excursion at the Anterne pass, in the Giffre massif mountain range in the Haute-Savoie region of the Alps in eastern France. Here a French police helicopter was scrambled to rescue the skier during the trip in the area which is popular with British skiers and snowboarders.
Group of experienced skiers were at the Anterne Pass at 7,400ft when one of them injured his knee. The guide called for help on the side of the steep mountain.
Video footage captured the moment the helicopter landed on the steep mountainside to rescue the injured man.
WATCH Exclusive Video of Pilots’s Brave Attempt:
In the footage it can be seen that as the helicopter landed, a fellow mountaineer can be seen waving towards the helicopter as the stricken 19-year-old man, named Bruno, lay on the floor. The pilot partially came in contact with the mountain to avoid the blades hitting the mountain.
He is seen inching the aircraft close to the off-piste slope with the front of the skids barely above the snow and managed to hold the vehicle in place so that the right-hand landing skid remained in contact with the mountainside.
This enabled a rescue team to climb out of the helicopter and get to Bruno, who had injured his knee during a conversion or climb. The medical team strapped up Bruno's leg with a large padded brace.
The helicopter then returned to make the same dramatic manoeuvre, resting against the mountainside in order to load the rescuers on board. This time it came in even closer with the nose and rotors inches from disaster. Bruno, along with a mountain gendarme officer, was then winched in the air and carried off to safety and he dangled from the helicopter.
He was taken by a medical team from the PGHM High Mountain Mounted Police Platoon (Peloton de Gendarmerie de Montagne) to hospital.
A doctor from the nearby Chamonix hospital was also part of the team and accompanied the patient to hospital.
