Why can’t we use helicopters to rescue climbers on top of Mount Everest?
In: Physics
There’s 2 issues: wind, and air density.
Everest is a very windy place. The winds are so powerful that uncovered skin can easily get frostbite in under 10 minutes! So any helicopter that tries to go there will be thrown around like a toy.
And then the air pressure. Everest is so tall that after a certain point, there’s literally not enough air for you to breath. They refer to this as “the death zone”. Even with supplemental oxygen, you are dying every second you spend in the death zone.
Being as the air is so thin up there, there just not enough of it for the helicopter to generate enough thrust. There was one pilot who landed on the summit once, but the helicopter was very light, and wouldn’t have been able to carry all the gear required to rescue someone, as well as other rescue workers AND the person intended to be rescued.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Delsalle#:~:text=On%20May%2014%2C%202005%2C%20at,ft)%20summit%20of%20Mount%20Everest.
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