World Record of the Highest Flight undertaken by an Alouette III Helicopter

[shah1398]

Blast from the Past:

World Record of the Highest Flight undertaken by an Alouette III Helicopter



4 August 1983
Gilgit Sector.

A member of Belgian Mountaineering Team approached the local Army Aviation Base and requested that one of their team members need help.

The team was climbing the Rakaposhi Mountain when he slipped from the gradient and wounded badly, making him unable to move. The team brought him down to Camp 5 which was located on the altitude of 5500 meters in the upstream of Jaglot Gah.

The Captain of Alouette III helicopter and his Co-Pilot Major Azam were assigned the task to bring down the Mountaineer. When the pilots reached the Base they were informed that Camp 5 is located on the height of 6000 meters. Calculations told that to carry the load from such a height, it was necessary to off load the excessive weight. So, the Co Pilot and some safety measures such as back door, seats and skis from the helicopter were removed. Moreover, some of the fuel was also drained.

When the Captain took off for the rescue, he was alone for the mission. Soon he reached adjacent to Camp 5. Altimeter was showing the reading of 6500 meters which was 200 meters more than the possible altitude taken by an Alouette III helicopter. There was no place for the chopper to land and the skis were also removed, therefore it was a very difficult task to keep the chopper stable. Showing a high level of excellence and professionalism, the pilot managed to load the wounded mountaineer in the chopper. In the meantime, the red light of fuel tank started blinking, showing that the chopper is running out of fuel. They flew back to the base making a flight of 14 minutes, while the fuel warning kept on blinking. When the chopper landed safely, there was fuel of only 1 minute remaining in the tank.

This was not just a rescue mission but it was also a world record of the highest flight taken by an Alouette III helicopter. The first record was to fly on an altitude of 19500 feet on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, but it was broken by an altitude of 22000 feet done by the Captain.

Belgian King announced "Order of Leopold" (The Highest Award given to a foreigner by Beligain King) where as the "Aero Spatial" also announced the award for the Captain.
Today the world knows this Hero as Captain Hashim Khan ( Later Brigadier Hashim Khan).

Mr. Hashim Khan also appeared in the Pakistani Dramas "Sunehray Din" and "Alpha Bravo Charlie"

@mods plz merge the Thread if existing already.

 

[war&peace]

Great job on the part of the pilot and the team. This is the kind of story for hollywood movies, at least makes up a great opening scene.

Said that, we should get some high altitude helicopters instead of resorting to this needless chivalry. Are there no helicopters in the world that can fly at higher altitudes?

 

[GuardianRED]

Wanted to read more about this ! BUT there is NO info about this other than a blog and Also the "Order of leopold" is given to civilians (ie locals) for long service, no info of any foreigner getting this.

A official source would be nice

 

[Pakistani till death]

It's a shame that a common Pakistani has no knowledge of their own countrymen's achievements. The media and the Govt. should highlight these legends and have their stories be memorised by every Pakistani! Indians are far ahead of this from us. They know how to treat and respect their legends!

 

[hassamun]

A brave story of an Officer and a Gentleman...

 

[war&peace]

It's a shame that a common Pakistani has no knowledge of their own countrymen's achievements. The media and the Govt. should highlight these legends and have their stories be memorised by every Pakistani! Indians are far ahead of this from us. They know how to treat and respect their legends!

Hey common Pakistani does not need these kind of stories...great chivlary but how does it affect the life of common people? They need work, sustained income, security, education, health and equal opportunities to grow...not some chivalrous account of some major in saving a foreigner....they are more focused on what Raymond Davis did in the broad daylight in Lahore and got away scot free ... that's what they remember and I wish some chivalry was shown there too.

 

[Pakistani till death]

Hey common Pakistani does not need these kind of stories...great chivlary but how does it affect the life of common people? They need work, sustained income, security, education, health and equal opportunities to grow...not some chivalrous account of some major in saving a foreigner....they are more focused on what Raymond Davis did in the broad daylight in Lahore and got away scot free ... that's what they remember and I wish some chivalry was shown there too.

I see you have Abdul Sattar Edhi Sahib (R.A) picture on your profile. Tell me how does remembering him effect you? Does it help you in anyway? Or even better let us stop celebrating 6th September and stop remembering all of our martyrs and soldiers who fought to defend this land as it does not help us in daily life!

I understand what you are trying to say but i fully disagree! Such stories invoke nationalism and make us proud. Right now we have literally nothing to make us feel good/proud. National heroes are an asset to their nations!

 

[hassamun]

Hey common Pakistani does not need these kind of stories...great chivlary but how does it affect the life of common people? They need work, sustained income, security, education, health and equal opportunities to grow...not some chivalrous account of some major in saving a foreigner....they are more focused on what Raymond Davis did in the broad daylight in Lahore and got away scot free ... that's what they remember and I wish some chivalry was shown there too.

One cannot forget the sacrifices of our military. Common people have problems because of corrupt politicians...not the military. These so called stories give a purpose in our lives and prove to us that there are still brave people in our country. This incident has nothing to do with Raymond Davis....

 

[Nilgiri]

Alouette, gentille alouette....alouette je te plumerai!

Great story, did not know of this!

 

[war&peace]

I see you have Abdul Sattar Edhi Sahib (R.A) picture on your profile. Tell me how does remembering him effect you? Does it help you in anyway? Or even better let us stop celebrating 6th September and stop remembering all of our martyrs and soldiers who fought to defend this land as it does not help us in daily life!

I understand what you are trying to say but i fully disagree! Such stories invoke nationalism and make us proud. Right now we have literally nothing to make us feel good/proud. National heroes are an asset to their nations!

Abdul Sattar Edhi set an example....he lived all his life like a common person, he got billions of Rs through his hands but never usurped a single penny rather he gave away everything he had to the deserving people and he did not accept to leave the country for his treatment and preferred to be treated in a govt hospital in Pakistan. Every leader in the entire history of Pakistan except QA, is not even a halfling in comparison. His example and life directly affects the common person. Can you give me a single such example from any other leader except for QA?

 

[SherDil]

Blast from the Past:

World Record of the Highest Flight undertaken by an Alouette III Helicopter




Is he the one who was in ABC and Sunehry din??? as a senior Officer of Cap. Kashif ???

 

[Pakistanisage]

If true , it is a great accomplishment.

The problem in such missions is in the landing phase at extreme heights because Air is thin and there is not enough lift to break the rate of descent. Such landings always turn into controlled crashes or at least resemble one. Also, the subsequent Take-off can be problematic and tricky because in his case he had to take-off with the injured mountaineer.

I am however intrigued by his purported " Backward Take-off ". I would have turned around and gone upwind to the edge of the mountain, gained as much height as possible and then pushed nose forward to gain speed.

Overall, the pilot took extreme risk and such missions should be discouraged. As it was, all the factors and variables went in his favour , but had one factor such as wind, temperature or any miscalculation could have resulted in a disaster because at those heights there is no room left for errors.

 

[Hamza913]

It's a shame that a common Pakistani has no knowledge of their own countrymen's achievements. The media and the Govt. should highlight these legends and have their stories be memorised by every Pakistani! Indians are far ahead of this from us. They know how to treat and respect their legends!

They are men, not Gods.

 

[Jamwal's]

Alouette, gentille alouette....alouette je te plumerai!

Great story, did not know of this!

Army aviation do this on daily basis, our Posts are as high as 22,000 ~ ft in Siachen. Its is one of the biggest logistics operation in the world since 1984 - 24/7 365 days.

The case in point is Bana post.



The average altitude in Siachen is 20,000 ft.

 

[FLIR]

BRAVE GUY AND STORY. he was shown in ptv drama ALPHA BRAVO CHARLIE !!!!