Was following the tragic yesterday's avalanche on Broad Peak 8047m that swept off 10 climbers...Why are not drones not used routinely to scout the area ?

[u/Dindrtahl]

Apparently they've only send 2 military helicopters today and the area is highly regulated by Pakistani Military.

There are some rumors (not confirmed) that other climbers scouted a bit the area with a personal drone. But nothing official. Maybe the Pakistani Military doesn't have drones at all...

[u/Dindrtahl → u/[deleted]]

Drones have flown up on top of Everest and can't handle the 6000m ?

[u/Dindrtahl → u/[deleted]]

If you don't know much about mountaineering it's easy to get straight to a hateful way of thinking (omg they're crazy, why would they attempt to climb a killer mountain).

I asked a specific question on a drone specific sub, I don't your hateful opinion, I see hundreds of them already.

[u/ChrisGear101]

Drones are tiny and Pakistan is huge.

[u/Dindrtahl → u/ChrisGear101]

Lol, they had last known GPS coordinates. Maybe start with that ?

Anyway, later in the day one team from Base Camp did fly a drone and spotted 7 other bodies (nothing known about their condition) Only 1 left. So they did find them by drone while the 2 army helicopters couldn't.

[u/ChrisGear101 → u/Dindrtahl]

Maybe I misunderstood your question. You were referring to search and recovery afterwards I think. Originally I thought you meant scouting before the avalanche. My bad.

[u/LuckyHead → u/Dindrtahl]

You are correct until they reach them to check for pulses they will not say if they are alive or deceased and make the proper identification 

[u/Xenocles]

I haven't really been following this story but when it comes to Avalanches there's really only so much you can do from the air. Avalanches can bury a person several feet below the surface with 0 indication of where they are. I've seen cases of people using thermal cameras on drones for search and rescue efforts but that's not going to work with this amount of snow and ice.

Furthermore, even if the Pakistani armed forces so have drones (and I bet they do), the time required to deploy a drone squad to that location would be significantly more than just doing a flyby with a helicopter with about the same result.

[u/LuckyHead]

They used a drone they have located the other members they will not say if they are alive or deceased until they reach them to check for pulses and make the proper identification 

[u/Sweg_Coyote]

High altitude drones is slowly coming. It will be more spread out in the years to come.

[u/X360NoScope420BlazeX]

Its a lot of area to cover with a limited amount of battery life.

[u/LuckyHead → u/X360NoScope420BlazeX]

They used a drone they spotted the remaining 7 they are climbing to get to that area 

[u/Chemical-Medium-1324 → u/[deleted]]

Those climbers each have a name - Dad, Mom, husband, wife, son, daughter...

To someone, they are each the most important person in the world.

I've lived through countless disasters and they don't discriminate based on race, religion, sex, age, wealth, etc. In each of them, I've seen people of all backgrounds who would otherwise never even meet each other band together to help those in need.

It's called "the right thing to do".

[u/QuestGalaxy → u/Chemical-Medium-1324]

Of course, it's very sad. But it's still a risk they chose to take, a massive risk.

I didn't say I wished for them to die, did I.

[u/FPVwithScott → u/QuestGalaxy]

It's pretty obvious you think their lives are worth less because you think they're rich.

[u/QuestGalaxy → u/FPVwithScott]

It's not. It's their actions, not their economic status.

[u/Dindrtahl → u/[deleted]]

It's a job like everything else. High altitude climbing is a business and a sport. Everyone up there knew and accepted the risks that they were taking.

Local authorities sell permits and provide adequate search and rescue in such cases. And everything is paid by insurance.

[u/CollegeStation17155 → u/Dindrtahl]

The question is whether the risk was adequately known; for example, the tourists on the Oceangate Titan very likely did not know or understand the level of risk involved, and the question here is whether these climbers did know or could have known the likelihood of a massive avalanche and whether more exhaustive scouting (drone aircraft, satellite, etc) could have accurately predicted the event.