No one was around to say "this is really not a good idea" ..?

What do youmean, no one was hurt? That poor chopper was destroyed!

Or...How to retire from piloting helicopters.

The pilot may not have understood fully when they said, "OK bring in the chopper."

Hmm.. beams very close together, perhaps a helicopter isn't a good way to install a christmas tree here

fark Christmas.

RobotSpider: Mattyb710: Or...How to retire from piloting helicopters.

I actually came here to ask about this. For any of you pilots out there, how do you recover from a crash like this? Is this the kind of thing that an employer (or their insurer) is likely to forgive as an accident? Or does he have to get a job teaching now? Is there an official review process?

Just curious. Not planning anything.

In this case, the pilot in question runs the family helicopter business, so he's the boss. He'll probably fly again, if he can get insured.

Also, the news video isn't as good as the youtube video, which shows the helicopter tail rotor descend into a guy wire. (new window)

What direction do helicopter rotors turn in the Southern Hemisphere?

I understand the helicopter's job that day was helping install a Christmas tree, but what was it doing at the time of the crash? Landing in a very small spot?

I don't see a tree in the photo, and at the altitude the flight goes to shirt, you'd think they could install a tree that small without the use of a helicopter.

Can someone make that play in slow motion?

LadySusan: Can someone make that play in slow motion?

Yes.. yes I can.

RobotSpider: Mattyb710: Or...How to retire from piloting helicopters.

I actually came here to ask about this. For any of you pilots out there, how do you recover from a crash like this? Is this the kind of thing that an employer (or their insurer) is likely to forgive as an accident? Or does he have to get a job teaching now? Is there an official review process?

Just curious. Not planning anything.

I know a guy who rounds up wild horses with a helicopter, he was a pilot in Vietnam. He told me his boss won't hire someone unless they've already crashed twice. I don't know the logic behind that. Crashing helicopters wasn't something he was about to discuss.

As a former helicopter crew chief, that pilot was a farking moron for even attempting that.

#1 why the fark was he trying to land there?
#2 see number one

Is the cow OK?

I like this video because it gets to the point right away.

it's stuff like this is why Capt. Crockitt, who hangs out here in the pub, after starting his helicopter flying career in 'nam on Hueys, and just recently retired after flying black hawks in Afghanistan does not want to get into the business of flying a skycrane.

for one thing... I'm quite sure he's sick of the Helicopters at this point.

But, on another note.. the Breweries Pub has this giant patio that looks out over the river to the city skyline about a mile or so away. About two or three times a year I'm treated to a weekend display of one of the buildings down town getting a new HVAC unit installed on a rooftop, and it's always fascinating just to watch that type operation go down.

I can understand Crockitts hesitation to take on a gig like that, it's one thing to do drops and extractions under live fire, but for some reason, hovering between buildings seems a lot more ass puckering.

I dunno, to me it looks like a catastrophic failure of the shaft to the tail rotor for no obvious reason......not pilot error. Would like to see the result of the investigation.

It didn't blow up in a huge ball of fire. That is how I know it must be fake. That, and some of the pixels.

Smagma: No one was around to say "this is really not a good idea" ..?

exactly what i was thinking. Too many lambs, too little man brains?

I bet they still haven't pulled the seat from his butt cheeks from extreme pucker...