– One of the most important lessons from this experience is that you should never take anything for granted when it comes to the weather in the mountains.
Morten Traavik speaks from experience.
What was supposed to be a short hunting trip with his son in the mountains east of Matre in Vestland turned out to be something completely different than he had imagined.
Morten Traavik wants a new mountain weather rule to be introduced, adapted to the new reality.
Photo: Agnieszka Iwanska / NRK
– It was the fog that took us. Since we were only going to go on a fairly short walk that I had mapped out quite well the day before, we didn’t have a headlamp or a physical compass with us. We will always have that with us going forward.
But he had his mobile phone with him. It might have saved the two of them.
Wet, cold and without cover
The day before, Traavik had walked the same terrain with two hunting companions.
– It was a lovely Friday. We are up at an altitude of around 1,200 metres, so there will be some low clouds that are there for two minutes, and then they are suddenly gone again, says Traavik.
The day before had been lovely, with a low cloud cover that came and went. Traavik thinks he may have carried with him a false sense of security when the fog came the next day.
Photo: Private
But this Saturday, the cloud layer will not disappear. Traavik and the son are trapped in the mountains, surrounded by dense fog.
Their good clothes are no match for the western weather, and they get wet and cold. Without cover, they are also cut off from the outside world.
As darkness fell, Traavik decides that they must seek shelter. Using the mobile phone as a beacon, they look for a warm, dry spot in the terrain.
Photo: Private
– At one point I picked up the mobile phone to light a place, and saw that a call from 112 had been missed. At the same time, I heard a helicopter in the distance.
After 12 hours without coverage, Traavik’s mobile phone had already told the help where they were.
Mobile tracking
The helicopter they heard was the new SAR Queen, which has the ability to track mobile phones without coverage, and even contact them if they can use a 2G network.
The rescue helicopter SAR Queen was introduced at the base in Florø just three days before it helped in the search for Traavik and his son.
Photo: Arne Stubhaug
Since 2020, the helicopter has been phased into Norwegian rescue preparedness in several places in the country.
But the technology was completely fresh in Vestland on this wet October evening – just three days earlier, the Air Force’s 330 squadron and the helicopter took over the rescue helicopter base in Florø.
If it had happened three days earlier, they would not have been able to be saved by the new technology without the arrival of a helicopter from elsewhere in the country, which would have cost a lot of time anyway.
When the Central Rescue Service (HRS) asked them to move just before midnight, the flight conditions were unfavorable.
– Fog had been reported and there were icy conditions, so I thought that this will go into the mobile track straight away. HRS made all preparations to carry out a mobile search down there, so all formalities were ready, says vessel and base commander Erland Karlsen in 330 squadron.
Mobile Phone Detection and Location system (MPDLS)
- This is called the equipment that is in the new rescue helicopters, Sar Queen.
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If a person is missing, the main rescue center will contact Telenor/Telia/Ice to obtain the IMEI/IMSI number of the missing person’s phone.
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This number is entered into the rescue helicopter service’s systems, so that the sensor immediately starts searching for the phone.
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The range is approx. 35 km, but it depends on “line of sight”. This means that if the phone is behind a large mountain, it will not be tracked until the helicopter is nearby. This is solved, among other things, by flying high, so that the “shadows” of the terrain are as small as possible.
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As soon as the helicopter makes contact with the phone, the crews will get a position. In addition, they can both send SMS and make phone calls.
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This can be done even if the phone has no coverage.
Source: The rescue helicopter service in the Air Force
One minute after system operator Maria Gald started the search, they got a hit on the mobile phone.
– It’s wonderful when I find them. Not least to know that they are doing well – to hear a voice that says they are doing well. You know it’s harsh, cold weather, and there is someone who is worried about them, she says.
Wants a new mountain water rule
With a relatively accurate position of where Traavik and the son had sought shelter, the crew in the helicopter gave sound to the ground crew.
After a few hours, they found Traavik and his son huddled together on a dry spot behind a sloping rock face. They had then been in the mountains for around 17 hours.
Now Traavik wants a new, tenth mountain water rule to be introduced, adapted to the new reality.
– It must be as follows. Always take a fully charged mobile phone and an extra battery pack with you. And feel free to put it, especially if you are walking in the western mountains, in something waterproof and snort well again, he says.
And the system operator who found his mobile encourages him to have his mobile as a constant companion in the mountains.
– Bring your mobile phone, bring a battery pack, and have it screwed on. The only thing I need is that there is power on the mobile phone and that he is on. Then we can find you when needed, and save lives.
Published 11.10.2024, at 08.49
