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I have just sat and watched in awe at those rescues from the rooftops in New Orleans. On Tuesday, those guy were battling wind that kept moving the basket beyond where the guy was on the roof with folks. I don't know how in the world they ever were able to get it to him, but they did it. He did have to go chase it a couple of times, though. ;o)

I'm proud as hell of those guys! They did some great flying!

You should see them try to drop that basket into the cockpit of a boat in some really serious seas... it gets pretty nutty sometimes.

The guys that go down on the wire are CG "rescue swimmers". They are an uncommonly crazy bunch of fellows. They routinely do stuff that is just off-the-charts nutzville. The MOS designation is "ASW" or "Aviation Rescue Swimmer". They are crazy. Do not trust them with your children. They think running with scissors is a safe thing to do.

ASW's train at the BUDs school in San Diego, on Coronado Island. They'd be SEAL's, but they don't carry guns, so they're just Coasties. :-)

Another interesting little info-tidbit: Notice when you see one the helicopters, either CG or National Guard or whoever... when they drop a basket or some other pickup device, they always drop it into the water or onto the ground or onto a rooftop *before* anybody touches it.

This is because a helicopter, and of course anything metal attached to it, has a tendency to develop ONE MOTHER of a static electricity charge, what with that rotating air-static-collector thingy they fly with, and all.

If somebody were to just *grab* the basket that comes down from a helo they'd get a static shock like nobuddy's bidness. If it has been hanging there for a while (some minutes), the built up static charge could even be life-threatening.

That's why before lowering it into a boat or onto something, they always try to dip it in the water first, or let it touch ground, to dissipate the static charge.