n070  1358  12 Aug 77
 
BC-RESCUE 600
ice
    MOSCOW - A spectacular helicopter rescue operation was mounted
earlier this month high on the frozen slopes of the Soviet Union's
loftiest mountain, 24,590 foot Kommunism peak, in an effort to save
the life of one of the country's most prominent scientists and
educators.
    The victim was Rem V. Khokhlov, the 51-year-old rector of Moscow
State University and a respected physicist who also served as
vice-president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He died on Monday
in a Moscow hospital of complications from respiratory illness caused
by high altitude and exposure, despite the hazardous evacuation from
a record altitude here of 19,200.
    An obituary in the official press Thursday, which was signed by
Leonid I. Brezhnev and others in the Soviet leadership, announced
that Dr. Khokhlov had ''died suddenly'' but did not give the cause.
But reports from sources close to the late rector add up to a drama
that highlighted in particular the heroism of Igor Ivanov, an
Aeroflot pilot who came to the assistance of three American climbers
trapped elsewhere in the Pamirs in 1974.
    In the absence of official Soviet confirmation, the details remain
sketchy. Khokhlov was a scientific participant in a 12-man expedition
to Kommunism in the Pamirs, a remote high mountain chain slicing
through the Soviet Union, Afghanistan and China. The wiry dark-haired
physicist specialized in high-altitude research on subjects like
ultraviolet radiation and was also an avid mountaineer.
    According to unofficial reports, at about 23,000 feet on the
formidable peak, one team member fell ill and died of a perforated
ulcer. As the other climbers began to retreat, they were hit by
storms with temperatures plunging to 13 degrees below zero farenheit.
    An associate of Khokhlov believed that the scientist over-exerted
himself in rallying the rest of the expedition. The party descended
about 4,000 feet before Khokhlov himself fell ill with a lung ailment
and from exposure. The symptoms described by a source resemble
pulmonary edema, a potentially fatal high-altitude affliction in
which the lungs fill with fluid for lack of sufficient oxygen.
    In response to a radio summons for help, Capt. Ivanov adroitly
touched down his MI4 helicopter on a small snowswept plateu at 19,200
feet. But the 8-ton helicopter was unable to lift off again because
of the thin air. The chunky aircraft's normal ceiling is 18,000 feet.
In 1965, an MI4 fitted out with superchargers climbed to slightly
over 26,000 feet but took off from only 16,400 feet.
    According to the reports, extra fuel was drained off and the
helicopter was stripped of all but its essential parts. Khokhlov was
placed aboard in a sleeping bag and Ivanov, a veteran mountain flier
known in the Pamir region for his skill, finally succeeded in
clearing the mountain. The press agency Tass briefly .alluded to his
f.at in a two-paragraph dispatch on Monday that referred only to
''one of the members of a climbing party'' being evacuated.
    Khokhlov was flown to a hospital two hours away and the next day the
2,000 miles to Moscow where, despite the efforts of medical
specialists, he died four days later.
    In 1974, Ivanov flew his helicopter at 17,000 feet across the north
face of the 19th Party Congress peak in the Pamirs to drop new
equipment and foodito three American climbers trapped by an avalanche
that had killed a fourth climber. His adroit maneuver helped save the
lives of the Americans, who were able to climb down themselves.
    Several weeks later, a team of eight Soviet women climbers died of
exposure in a fierce storm near the adjacent 23,405 foot Lenn peak,
third highest in the Soviet Fnion. Their dceaths were officially
confirmed after the disaster was reported in The New York Times.
    
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