So familiar - yet vital

Living in what is actually quite a remote place, with no hospital nearer than 40 kilometres away we are used to seeing helicopters crossing the skies. Some of them here are the larger (and noisier) military versions, but frequently they are police or SAMU, responding to accidents or emergencies. Imagine then how indispensable they are in the mountains, a much more inhospitable environment.
This was brought home this week when a gendarmerie helicopter crashed in the Pyrenees, killing all four crew.

On a training exercise a rotor blade hit a rocky outcrop causing the aircraft to crash. Many expressions of condolence, from top officials to ordinary citizens, were to be found in the social media. It is a salutary reminder that the routine missions we see in our skies are the result of hours of training and it's not just routine.
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