Posted on 09/29/2013 9:38:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Carl R. Enlow, 69, landed the helicopter at the Bloomsburg Fair grounds Friday to re-fuel and to allow a relief pilot to take over.
He left the chopper and was re-entering to speak to the replacement pilot when he was struck by the rotor, the fair association said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Bird brain.
RIP
Main rotor or tail rotor? Story doen’t say.
Scary. I have always been afraid of helicopters.
Quote from the comments...
“Some heads are going to roll over this.”
A shame. RIP
Vic Morrow bump.
I have to ask, how the heck is this even possible?
I have never seen a helicopter where the blade comes anywhere close to hitting a person just walking away and toward the copter. That would, you know, kind of be a safety issue.
Seems like he would have had to stand on top of the helicopter to get hit.
Darwin nominee.
More detail needed. As a chopper pilot I instructed pax to approach/exit between the ten & two o’clock of the aircraft, & make sure the pilot(s) can see you. This keeps one away from the tail rotor.
Main rotor strikes happened usually if there was a berm or revetment near to the helicopter.
Tragic.
William J. Barratt, fair superintendent of traffic police and parking, said in a statement that Enlow left the helicopter while it was refueling and was struck by a rotor when he returned to the aircraft to speak to the replacement pilot.
Barratt told The Associated Press that Enlow’s hat blew off and he was struck when he reached for the hat.
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=515124
This story is sad. Anyway you slice it.
May 16, 1977 | 5 Killed in Helicopter Accident on Top of Pan Am Building
Back in the day, Pan Am was the largest international air carrier in the United States. Flight 1 went around the world west to east, and Flight 2 went around east to west.
No props for this guy’s safety skills
Doh!
its usually the tail rotor that people walk into.....Seen it several times in Viet Nam...I was a crewchief on UH-1’s and LOH’s and I don’t know how many times I had to yell at grunts and ARVNS...
Leave the head. Take the hat.
We were using a small chopper in Alaska for “commuting” and hopping from site to site. The pilot told us when getting off to step a foot to the side and kneel as he took off again. In the interest of time and I guess the rotor wash is less. I had a naive faith that he knew what he was doing!?
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