This Has Been a Year of Major Earthquakes and Hurricanes
Helicopters are best used for rescue and ought not be relied on for supply in times of major disasters. There is a point where the utility of helicopters becomes overwhelmed.
The tunsami and the earthquake in Pakistan not to mention the hurricane that hit New Orleans in the United States illustrate limits to what helicopters can do.
When infrastructure is wiped out aircraft have the needed speed and range to supply the people in trouble and helicopters are just one other aircraft.
Now the US Armed Forces and a number of other armed forces are able to move massive quantities of materials and people, but their primary job is war, and there is no equivalent force with the strict and limited mission of fighting with the elements for people simply because they are people.
If I was head of a mercenary organization like Blackwater I would direct some of my people to make a list of things that would fit into freight aircraft like the C-130 that would specifically be useful in disaster events and essentially make a disaster relief arm of the business.
I would market my services to labor unions that represented workers in more than three countries.
Ideally I would have fast ships and boats and contracts with railroads as well as truckers along with aircraft.
I’d hire doctors who were also skydivers.
Parachutes are much better than they used to be and in emergency situations some people are to be rescued, and others are to be supported.
I myself was flabbergasted that in the case of Katrina in the US inflatable boats like the Zodiac were not dropped into the city. I wonder how many people died waiting for helicopters.
For my mercenary company I would have an earthquake response team and a hurricane response team with the appropriate equipment for the two different events.
Both would incorporate skydivers and I would direct that the systems and packages be so constructed as to reduce the reliance on helicopters to rescue as exclusively as practical.
Scott Day