Posted on 01/06/2007 6:42:35 AM PST by aculeus
Early last month my son, James Kim, died of hypothermia in a snowy wilderness in Oregon after setting out on foot to seek help for his family, who were stranded in a car.
My son's death was a tragedy that could have been prevented. A wrong turn on a poorly marked wilderness road need not have resulted in the ordeal of James's wife and two daughters, nor his death while trying desperately to find help. I am sharing some of the hard-learned lessons that I took away from my family's trauma in the hope of making it less likely that others will suffer the same fate.
[snip]
Finally, the Federal Aviation Administration classification code for Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) to limit media presence during a life-or-death search-and-rescue operation should be more strictly enforced. A TFR is used to restrict aircraft operations within designated areas to separate "non-participating" aircraft from those engaged in official activities, including search-and-rescue operations.
Unfortunately for James, aviation authorities acquiesced to media requests to relax restrictions and allowed low-altitude media flights in the area while the aerial search was still underway. This untimely and irrational decision caused many rescue helicopters to abandon their operations for one full afternoon due to dangerous conditions created by media airplanes. It took personal pleas to Washington to get restrictions reinstated. The search, not media interest, should be the top priority.
With his last heroic determination to rescue his family, James proved himself to be a man of action. My son deserves a legacy worthy of that man. As a tribute to him, I am determined to follow his lead and do all I can to prevent another senseless tragedy. ing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And this means you too, Fox!
It doesn't surprise me a bit. As far as I'm concerned the media has destroyed a lot of high profile court cases and police investigations.
Too much media with too little to report leads to the Rosie O'Donnel, Donald Trump fight on Hannity and Colmes instead of on the E network where it belongs and the Berger story is forgotten.
The media kills more Americans than handguns.
Ressurecting something positive from a tragedy. I had no idea - no thought about some of the challenges mentioned here.
The media - self-serving - as it appears; did accomplish making James a friend; his wife and children a genuine concern as they covered this story. . .I felt the greater 'truth of the matter' - that they really were my part of my family; and as well; felt a sadness and grief as this scenario unfolded. Albeit; temporary; compared to the pain and suffering of those who knew and loved him.
I would add another cautionary lesson as well; Do Not take on roads; environments such as these at night and not at all; unless totally prepared for the unthinkable.
Time lost can become just that. . .
Seems the more eyes in the sky the better to me.
..it seems the media aircraft/helicopters made it hard or harder for the real rescue aircraft to do what they do best.
And it was a civilian in a chopper that first found the Kims.
They were busy looking for the most scenic backdrop for their live reports, instead of actually looking for the men.
These did no good and got in the way of the real search effort.
All that time wasted by officials in press-conferences to keep the stinkin' DBM apprised of their progress.
How about we bring the state of Oregon into this and put a little less blame on the Media which was doing what they do best. Getting in the way and making news.
When this story began, my first thought was on the long ago starvation death of another man stuck on a back road in Oregon by winter snows. Little did I know it was almost the same road. Only these folks were found before the 50 some days it took the other individual to starve to death. There ought to be some type of warning on this particular road at the very least. Like no non locals during winter or road impassible from X to X.
Not one word from the state as to conditions that were preventable. Sort of reminds me of the state vs Mt Hood, where far more people suffer death than on the back road in question, but nothing is done. Interesting, the liberallity of the State of Oregon in many areas including not pumping your own gas, but when it comes to nanny state you would think they might be a leader. Apparently not.
"Unfortunately for James, aviation authorities acquiesced to media requests to relax restrictions and allowed low-altitude media flights in the area while the aerial search was still underway."
The media had full permission to be there and were perfectly within the law. They were probably allowed because of the other's poster's comments. More eyes in the sky.
I feel for Mr. Kim but I beleive in his grief he is looking anywhere to lay blame.
And quite honesty, the poster who started this thread should be ashamed of the lie he added to the title. The media interfered with nothing.
Scource of the problem. The media will always follow its self interests under the banner of free speech. The FAA is as much, if not more, to blame for allowing this situation to happen.
Unfortunately, the media (at least in our parts) did not emphasize the need to keep a bag of supplies WHENEVER travelling through snowy areas.
We keep a sleeping bag and a bag of dry food, matches, gloves, a thermal blanket, first-aid kit, and a couple gallons of water.
These items do not consume much in the way of trunk space and are life-and-death savers.
I also keep a pistol on hand at all times and enough rounds that I could use it for signalling if necessary..for example if I heard a plane/helicopter behind a ridge.
I'm sure Spencer is overwhelmed with anger and grief right now. I suppose blaming the media, blaming the forest service, etc... is easier than admitting your son is dead as a direct result of the horrible decisions he made. James didn't die because of media planes.
Nobody killed James Kim but James Kim. He made one imprudent, irresponsible decision after the next, endangering not only himself but also his wife and child.
Compare, for example, the Mount Hood climbers -- their decision to climb in foul weather with minimal equipment was irresponsible, but they endangered only their own (and their climbing mates') lives. When one of them was seriously injured, and the weather turned even fouler, it was pretty much game over. All the bitching and moaning about what the rescuers did or did not do is somewhat beside the point -- a bit like the skid row denizen who sues for malpractice when doctors don't succed in treating him for drinking STERNO.
Kim made the following decisions:
The safest thing he could have done, once his irresponsibility and recklessness exposed them all to going the way of Scott's Antarctic Expedition, was to stay with the car as it has a larger signature and will be found first. You might stop and think that Scott's tent was readily found (albeit too late to do him any good), but Oates's ("I am just going outside and may be some time") body has never been found -- in 94 years.
Year in and year out people walk away from stranded cars or crashed planes and are never found. Capsized sailors who swim away from their boats, too. People who stay with the vehicle are much more likely to be rescued.
I am as harsh a critic of the media as can be found -- I was one of the first to note the Associated Press's alliance with our Baathist enemies in Iraq (right here in these pages) and I consider most of the media more implacable and more deadly enemies than any semtex-suited Sunni. But the media didn't kill James Kim any more than you did.
I don't know why his parents wrote such a strange and ugly essay. Perhaps they are having a hard time with the guilt of raising a kid to be a weak and improvident man, who endangered his family needlessly (and endangered a small army of rescue workers, who saved his family, and would have saved him if he'd had any clue about the wilderness).
Just replay this tragedy in your mind. Would Kim more likely have lived if he had used rational judgment, or if there were no planes but "official" searchers from the military and CAP or whomever up? And when you do that, bear in mind that the pilot of a rescue plane has a duty to see and avoid other aircraft, and that's what HE (or she) is watching for. OTHER people on the rescue plane act as observers, to try to spot the survivor -- that's what THEY are watching for.
The outdoors can kill anyone, even experienced outdoorsmen (cf. the experienced Hood climbers). It's not frickin' TV and urbanites need to prepare before plunging in (if you are prepared, it's safer than the city -- safer by miles -- even in a blizzard).
If I were on-scene commander I'd have briefed the media on the search plan, and assigned 'em a sector. They'd have loved that, eaten it up ("This is News Copter 7 reporting from the scene, where we're assisting in the search for the missing..."), and it would have gotten MORE eyes in the sky. Might have saved Kim's family sooner, even though he himself effectively committed suicide.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
I missed the part about PERSONAL preparedness to travel through a hazardous area in winter or other extreme. That is the absolute #1 thing that was not touched on in the article.
No doubting the poor man's courage or love for his family.
That's not the point.
If you are unsure about an un-marked primitive road,for G-d sake DON'T risk it. They will NEVER be marked well enough.
Don't travel off hard-ball road in bad weather with your kids--you'll never really be prepared enough.
Keep this in mind and the rubber-necker chopper won't be an issue.
I concur...
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