Posted on 11/23/2011 8:55:53 AM PST by smokingfrog
An experienced pilot was lucky to escape with his life when his helicopter clipped a wire while erecting a Christmas tree and slammed into Auckland's popular Viaduct wharf.
Greg Gribble walked away virtually unscathed after his aircraft spun out of control and crashed on the waterfront promenade during a live-streamed event on Wednesday morning to put up the 26-metre tall Telecom Christmas tree.
The helicopter had been hovering just metres from the ground when the blades caught a wire, breaking off the tail and sending the chopper to the ground.
Dramatic footage of the incident, carried live on the TVNZ website, shows ground crew running for cover and the pilot holding tight as he's flung from one side of the craft to the other.
Mr Gribble, head of commercial helicopter company Helisika, was taken to hospital for a check-up but had just minor injuries, a St John Ambulance spokesman said.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced it will investigate the accident and had already sent its lead investigator Steve Walker to the scene and another safety adviser would assist him.
CAA spokeswoman Emma Peel told NZ Newswire the fact the crash was filmed would be of 'considerable assistance' to understanding what happened.
'The footage will likely become a big part of the investigation. It's one of those rare but very useful things that does happen from time to time.'
(Excerpt) Read more at skynews.com.au ...
I think he’s gonna need some clean underwear after that.
Any landing you can walk away from.........
Holy Smokes! Whose bright idea was that?
WOW!
What is the “fistive” season? Sounds painful...
I stopped using a helicopter to put up Christmas decorations a long time ago. Everything goes at eye level now.
I saw the video on the morning news. The pilot is lucky, that is for sure. In this case luck won out over stupidity on his part. In other than an emergency situation you don’t really want to try to take a chance on bringing in the copter so close to guide wires and other tall obstructions like this one did. It was a recipe for disaster.
ping
If they had called it a Holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree....this would not have happened!
Emma Peel! They have the Avengers involved. -- This must be big!
That's the way people from New Zealand and Australia pronouce 'festive'. Try it in a sentence. It works.
"Crikey! Thit woz one harreefic cresh! Oy hape it won't put a dint in heez fistive season."
Given all the peopel nearby on the ground..it’s truly a miracle that several weren’t sliced and diced by the blades...
26 meters (about 85 feet) is about the same height as the tree in Rockefeller Center in New York City - and that is always put up using a crane. Wonder why they used a helicopter?
That is very true. If I had been there and seen the copter getting that close in I would have gotten the hell out of there as fast as possible.
The lucky one was that guy wearing the hardhat in the foreground. Surprised he didn’t get a blade to the body.
WOW. The pilot almost came out of the door
“What is the “fistive” season? Sounds painful...”
Very. However, the pilot was also rushed to hospital just to be chicked over, which may have been a lot more fun.
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