Oops! Someone forgot to move the excavator
Department of National Defense/Others
The first in a series of pre-Olympic security exercises was completed in Vancouver Tuesday morning -- with a few kinks.
The 2010 Integrated Security Unit was practicing its response to some type of criminal activity at the Athlete's Village in False Creek.
Under the original plan, a Canadian Forces helicopter was to do a couple of passes and then land next to the Athlete's Village to deploy a team of emergency response personnel.
But for several minutes, the helicopter circled and hovered over the area. The problem: there was an excavator parked in the specified landing zone.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Mike Cote told reporters that the pilot had decided to abort the landing because the landing area was too narrow and would carry out the exercise at another location.
"If the pilot had to, the pilot could've landed the helicopter in the specific area, but for safety purposes decided to abort the landing," he said.
But just as he said that, the helicopter returned and landed - about 50 metres away from the original landing zone.
That prompted Cote to revise his earlier remarks.
"As I was telling you that the exercise was possibly going to be cancelled or relocated, you could see the helicopter behind me landing and the exercises proceeded as scheduled, albeit the landing area was a little further away from the initial landing area."
"Let's all remember this is an exercise," he said.
Another mock exercise is scheduled for Tuesday evening.
The scenario: a search and rescue operation involving a dinner-cruise vessel in Coal Harbour.
With files from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/about-vanc...sid=17721.html
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