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--> --> Associated Press An Erickson Air-Crane helicopter lifts the company's "emergency rescue vehicle," designed to airlift up to 60 people. The rig has a lift capacity of 20,000 pounds. Helicopter rig could be used for rescue operations CENTRAL POINT (AP) - A helicopter rescue rig designed to snatch stranded office workers from skyscrapers or pluck people from the ocean has been brought out of its hangar. Erickson Air-Crane, a company that specializes in heavy-lifting helicopters, hopes to market the prototype to fire and police departments in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle or other large cities. During a demonstration Wednesday, pilot Paul Mavrinac flew above the Table Rock plateau, giving the reporters and photographers stationed below a view of a white rescue basket dangling by a 200-foot line from the helicopter's belly. The pilot swooped down, setting the cage, which holds 60 people, down on the rock. The line was loosened and the gate opened. Then, the pilot whisked it off the rock again. Erickson started building the rig four years ago at Japan's request, according to CEO Lee Ramage. But Japan's ailing economy put the project on hold. After thousands of people were trapped and died after hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center towers, Erickson decided it was time to try to market it again. "If we would have had the rescue vehicle there, we could have saved more lives," Mavrinac said of the Sept. 11 attacks. "Even in adverse conditions, with poor visibility, we would be able to control the load precisely." The rig has a lift capacity of 20,000 pounds. It also can be used to fight fires with a 2,500-gallon tank, flexible hose snorkel and cannon that shoots water or foam at a rate of 300 gallons a minute. Mavrinac said the rescue rig would have been a life-saving tool during the 1980 fire at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. Three local helicopter pilots flew through black smoke to rescue hotel guests stranded on a roof, one small load at a time. But 80 people died in the disaster. Since the East Coast attacks, Erickson officials met with engineers who examine new products for the New York City Comptrollers Office. They have also pitched the $15 million rig to officials from the Los Angeles area. Ramage said the vehicle could be positioned like a fire truck at a station, where it could reached disasters within a matter of minutes. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing