On May 12, the disappearance of a female wingsuit pilot in Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie attracted attention. On the 18th, the Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area reported that the remains of the female wingsuit pilot were found in the jungle at an altitude of 600 meters. On the 19th, the Zhangjiajie Blue Sky Rescue Team revealed that because the wingsuit pilot did not carry mobile phones, GPS and other positioning equipment, coupled with the continuous rain and complex terrain in recent days, the low-altitude observation effect of helicopters, thermal imagers and unmanned aerial vehicles was not ideal, and this search was also a difficult time faced by the rescue team in the past three years.
On May 20, Nandu reporters contacted Zhang Zong (pseudonym), a member of the Zhangjiajie Blue Sky Rescue Team who participated in the rescue. "We had a team member who almost fell off a cliff and was stopped by a tree." Zhang Zong said that he felt lost when the search and rescue did not progress, but everyone was still determined to "find her and let her family take her back to rest in peace." ”
Rescue team during the search.
Search and rescue process: "The search and rescue scope given at the beginning is misleading"
Nandu: When did you receive the search and rescue request?
Zhang Zong: On May 12, the company responsible for filming the person Xiao Liu first used a helicopter to search and rescue, and we had a team member go first, who was familiar with drone shooting. On the same day, the Zhangjiajie Yongding District Emergency Management Bureau and the TianmenShan National Forest Park Management Office uniformly assigned firefighting, rescue teams and local people to search in three groups. All of them add up to more than 100 people.
Nandu: How big is the search and rescue area?
Zhang Zong: The diameter is about 5 square kilometers. Sometimes from 7 o'clock in the morning to go down the mountain at six or seven o'clock in the evening, you can only walk two kilometers, because you can only climb such a distance in a day, there are all cliffs, many of which are 60 degrees to 90 degrees, and the slope is particularly steep. On May 13 and 14, the weather did not allow, it rained heavily, and the search was interrupted for a while. During the period, drones were also sent to conduct key inspections of the cliff area below the glass boardwalk on the eastern route.
Nandu: Which area of Tianmen Mountain is the search demarcated?
Zhang Zong: On the east side of the back of Tianmen Mountain. The company's wingsuit flight experts and consulting team responsible for filming Xiao Liu judged her to be east of Houshan based on the video. In fact, the scope they gave at the beginning was somewhat misleading and wasted manpower. It's about two kilometers straight from where Xiao Liu was finally found, because each mountain is more than 1,000 meters above sea level, and it is far more than that distance to walk.
Some search team members were bitten by ants.
Nandu: Every mountain in the search area, even if it is more than 1,000 meters above sea level, must be climbed up to search, right?
Zhang Zong: Yes, we are horizontal search and rescue. Some of them have to be equipped, and some of them can be grabbed directly by hand to go up the mountain. If the mountain is indeed too steep, we will also fly through drones, this time we have many drones, and we are "flying" every day.
Nandu: The mountain is steep and vertical, how did you climb it?
Zhang Zong: There are roads in some places, and there are places where a rock wall is equivalent to 80 stories high, and you need to climb up with the help of some tools. We brought ropes, harnesses and drills. If there is no road, hit it with an electric drill and put the bolts in. This gear is used in cases where the cliff is impassable.
Nandu: How much do the team members carry on the package every day?
Zhang Zong: The weight is fine, try to reduce the burden. About a dozen pounds including equipment and food. Food was prepared for the day, with a little bread, chocolate and mineral water.
Map of Tianmen Mountain Search Area.
Encountered danger: "The team members fell 6 meters from the cliff, but fortunately they were stopped by a tree"
Nandu: Were there any more thrilling times during the rescue?
Zhang Zong: On the 4th day of the search, we had a teammate who almost fell off a cliff. At that time, 5 people in our group were in a three-sided shape, you were 10 meters away from me and I were 10 meters away from him, and when we walked together on the top of the slope, the team member grabbed a branch, but the branch was dry, and then it fell down, and several branches were caught in a row, but in the end it was particularly lucky, after sliding 6 meters, he grabbed another trunk and stood, if he did not catch it, the consequences might be very serious. If it weren't for the trees, there would be a cliff more than 200 meters high, which I can't imagine.
Nandu: Were you scared?
Zhang Zong: I was stunned. I didn't want to talk about it, the rescue team members all had their own jobs and lives, and at that moment I thought my brother was going to be gone. In fact, with the same reason as playing extreme sports, search and rescue is also facing risks.
Nandu: You encountered ants while searching in the mountains, didn't you?
Zhang Zong: It's nothing for an ant to bite. Tianmen Mountain is a mountain behind, and mountain locusts are characteristic. Every time on our mountain at an altitude of about 800 meters, after the rain, there will be, in fact, we are used to it. In order to deal with the mountain locusts, we used ointments, sprays, and even team members wrapped their calves in layers with scotch tape.
Nandu: There was no progress for several days in a row, what was the idea at the time?
Zhang Zong: This is the longest and most helpless rescue I have ever experienced. Because there is no positioning of the other party at all, there is nowhere to make a little bit of strength. At that time, I would be a little sad emotionally, thinking: Why can't I always find it? But everyone is still determined that if we don't find her today, tomorrow or even a month after tomorrow, we will look for her, and we must find her and let her family take her back to rest in peace. Because there are only so many mountains and cliffs in Tianmen Mountain, if this villager does not spontaneously go up the mountain to find it, we may expect to complete the original planned scope within 3 days, and then go to the side where Xiao Liu's body was finally found.
Nandu: Did you see Xiao Liu's family at the search and rescue site?
Zhang Zong: On May 14, more than forty hours after Xiao Liu disappeared, I saw it at that time. Her father also followed our team up the hill to look for it. Her mother was in a hurry. Her father is still calmer, because he may be more understanding of his daughter. My daughter's choice of extreme sports is not something that she suddenly came up with in a day or two.
Villagers familiar with the terrain went up the hill to find it, and the victims crashed into the tips of trees
Nandu: According to official reports, Xiao Liu was found at an altitude of 900 meters, where is it actually higher than the ground?
Zhang Zong: It is about 700 meters above the ground.
Nandu: How did several villagers find Xiao Liu?
Zhang Zong: The fire brigade of the rescue team arranged was searching in the east. They looked west and found it in two days. At that time, the four villagers set off at more than 6 o'clock in the morning, they also divided into two directions, and the villager who found Xiao Liu climbed the rock from the left side alone, he used to live in the mountain and often hunted, so he knew the cliff situation here very well.
Nandu: When you found Xiao Liu, what was the situation around her and her?
Zhang Zong: Unfortunately, there are no life characteristics anymore. According to the villager, she did not crash directly into the cliff, but hit the tip of the tree, breaking a tree of more than ten centimeters. The body of Xiao Liu he saw was very complete, and the equipment was also there. After finding it, he didn't know who to look for, so he sent a circle of friends. After a while, his friend sent us this picture and asked if you were looking for this person? We immediately gave feedback and immediately started going up the mountain after confirming with this Beijing shooting company. Climbed up for more than three hours, found it and carried it down that afternoon.
Nandu: The Blue Sky Rescue Team has participated in the Zhangjiajie Wingsuit Flying Event as a rescue support team for many times. Some netizens think that wingsuit flight should wear GPS and mobile phones, but some people say that they are rarely worn in practice, what do you know about the situation?
Zhang Zong: Mobile phones can be brought. There is a pocket in the wingsuit flight suit dedicated to the mobile phone, sometimes the skydiving to other places, you can use the mobile phone for help. Some wingsuit flying helmet built-in GPS device, many people think that gps must be actively launched to find the position, in fact, not completely correct, now the newer equipment does not work, it has, but this time Xiao Liu used the helmet does not have that function.
I think it may be because she tried her jump twice on May 11 (so she didn't bring her phone this time). Wingsuit flight is calculated in grams, the body equipment is lighter, and the attitude is better controlled. Because the mobile phone also has more than 200 grams after all. I personally think she doesn't carry a phone, probably hoping to fly a little better. The final investigation will have to wait for the official conclusion.
Written by: Nandu reporter Huang Chibo Provided by the interviewee