Looks to me like he slid off the left (and aft) side of the pad and got the rear of the left skid hooked on something.

Notice he just sits there with the left side low for a few seconds trying to figure out what his next move might be.

(I can guarantee he was probably thinking: “Oh ___. I’m screwed…”)

The absolute last thing you want to do in a helicopter is hook the gear on anything solid.
Especially if you plan on moving. Or have to move, as in this guys predicament.

The only place you ever want to push or pull on a helicopter is straight up or down the main rotor mast. Anywhere else, and you are dealing with the laws of physics related to gyros.

Keep in mind that the rotor disk is a big gyro spinning around. Any force, being it pushing or pulling, will result in a force on the disk 90 degrees in the direction of rotation.

This guy hooks the left rear skid (at about 7/8:00 or so on the disk) and pulls up even the slightest amount, and it’s got the result of pushing down on the rotor disk at about the 10/11:00 or so position. And that’s exactly the way the ship went.

Reminds me of a Bell 206 flight I took out to Malcolm Forbes yacht some years ago. The deck crew left one of the four tie-down hooks in the up position. It was hard to hover off the aft deck of the boat and gesture to them at the same time that they needed to drop/stow it before I would attempt a landing. This video is a great example of just why.

Have you seen the idiots that tried to tow the boat with the rope tied to the skid of the 206? Same issue.


Thanks for sharing this one. (I just wish the little fixed wingers weren’t in the way.)


- Shelby
(Who prefers her blades turning the other way. )

__________________
1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12PMzWI2caQ

Oh yeah, when I was little I was into RC planes, saw a number do a death dive. The helicopter guys were always crashing them.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I found the old video I shot and uploaded it. I was standing about 150 feet away and when things started going bad, I zoomed the camera out and ran for cover. The rotor tips are moving about 500 MPH and I didn't want to get hit by flying dirt clods, rocks or any miscelaneous parts that were going to be flying off. Watch for the guy to actually touch his foot to the ground when the machine is going over!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6P51PWvTQo

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

You forgot the trailer when he's cleaning out his shorts...........

That's what I was thinking, I bet he sweat a few gallons after that epidsode.

but as WVO once said regarding hard landings "you're still here aren't ya" LOL I still chuckle over that one.

The strange thing about that video is that the aircraft was so graceful. It was not like he was a newbie and was seriously overcorrecting the controls. No sudden motions of the helicopter..........just very deliberate moves.

I couldn't believe that he had it that far over........and then brought it back.........almost as though he was highly skilled and did it deliberately.

Why they let it go that far, and into so many dangerous configurations, is beyond me.
Looks like a low hour pilot on his first flight in type or something. That, or the thing is out of rig, or rigged really loose. I would have put it back down long before it went as far as it did.

Glad to see they made that decision prior to making a real mess out of it. Got a chuckle out of the foot going to the ground. Not sure if he was thinking he could help it or not. Apparently the guy in the left seat was PIC.

We have often had fixed wing pilots approach us and make comments about buying there own helicopter and perhaps teaching themselves how to fly it. We show them this video.
How/why this guy lived through being this stupid is beyond me as well. I consider this guy one of the luckiest idiots on earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGvut-vpi0M


-Shelby

(I have 3 flights today in the 407. Just ducky, that I get to do them with this stuff fresh in my mind. )

__________________
1980 300D - Veggie Burner !