As already reported in the February issue of the IRAM Newsletter, all observing activity had to be stopped at the Plateau de Bure after the helicopter accident on December 15th, 1999.
The scientific activity of the observatory has not been resumed since then (the receivers are warmed up). The few proposals which were completed during winter were only those observed before December 15th. In the meantime all principal investigators with an accepted program were notified. The interferometer is currently in the D configuration, and this will not be changed in the near future. We still hope to be able to carry out a limited number of projects. These are new proposals submitted for the coming summer period (see the recommendations of the IRAM Program Committee), as none of the projects which were submitted for winter 1999/2000 have been considered feasible during summer conditions.
We will get in touch with every principal investigator as soon as possible. We recall that since July 1st, 1999, PdBI proposals can only be carried out on a best effort basis, with no guarantee for scheduling (even for A-rated proposals).