If this has already been covered in another thread, I apologize, because I have not read most of the WTC threads.
Were helicopters considered for rescuing people on the roofs of the WTCs? If so, were they ruled out because it was too dangerous? Were people even on the roofs waiting for rescue?
Mayor Rudy was on NBC this past Sunday morning and addressed this exact question. Helicopters wer ruled out based on the amount of smoke and heat above the building. They wouldn’t have made it through to get those above the fire.
There hasn’t been a highrise fire yet that helicopters made a definite rescue. I say definite meaning that had the helicopters not pulled the people off the building, they would have survived anyway.
There have been conflicting ideas within the fire service over the past decade or so as to the use of helicopter rescue in highrise fires. Some think its a great idea, even though you can’t remove all that many people (lets say you have a huge helicopter and take 20 people per flight, you still have to land somewhere, drop them off, go back, land, return to the landing zone, refuel, etc) all that quickly. There is also the idea that the rotor wash from the helicopter causes odd wind currents in and around the building, creating unexpected fire behavior. Thats not good for the fellows putting the fire out. The first priority is always life safety, putting the fire out is second. In some cases, though, putting the fire out quickly is the best way to assure life safety.