Details of the Daring Airdrop at Tristan Da Cunha

(tristandc.com)

87 points | by kspacewalk2 4 hours ago ago

11 comments

  • connorgurney 2 hours ago

    I think this is one of the few things as late that makes me feel genuinely proud to be British, because, beneath the hostility that feels so rife across our country recently, we’ve so many good people making things like this happen. Bravo.

    • tomjen3 an hour ago

      It certainly involved a lot of skill and expense, but how many more lives could be saved if the same money had been spent on improved traffic safety or NHS in general?

      • argsnd an hour ago

        Probably not that many. You underestimate how expensive either of those things are.

        We have obligations to provide services like this to the people living in our overseas territories, and you won’t find many people who’ll oppose that.

      • shermantanktop 7 minutes ago

        People respond to inspiring stories that show what is possible. Inevitably that means choices that might not match what a perfect allocation looks like.

        Quiet, bland execution in government will get you voted out. Technocrats tend to come in after corruption, but they don’t usually last.

      • ninalanyon 3 minutes ago

        You'd rather we ignored our overseas compatriots?

      • benj111 an hour ago

        True, but this is military expenditure. So would you rather they spend this on an exercise or on actually saving people?

  • cbsks 3 hours ago

    Amazing! Tristan’s entire website is a treasure. It’s a throwback to when the web was great.

    • brendoelfrendo 2 hours ago

      Agreed. The story is great, too. A really interesting logistical challenge that arose from unusual circumstances.

      There's probably something to be said for the fact that TDC is a small, remote community, so it shouldn't be surprising that its website is reminiscent of a smaller, more communal web... but I'm not going to try to read too much into it and let the story stand on its own.

      • argsnd an hour ago

        Until recently TDC had a very slow FCDO satellite link that required their website to be quite basic in order to actually be viewable on computers on the island.

        They now have a fast Starlink connection, but I’m glad they’ve kept the website as it is.

  • dmos62 14 minutes ago

    What a heartwarming article.

  • qingcharles an hour ago

    Literally one of the worst places to fall seriously ill due to the fact you are absolutely and totally stuck in the actual middle-of-nowhere.