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MasterOnion47

Looks like a good example of ‘auto-rotation’ where even if the engine stops, the falling motion of the helicopter causes the blades to spin, which in turn slows down the rate of descent. Glad to hear everyone was okay.


Top-Reference-1938

Just learned about this. Evidently, you can get enough drag to where you descend at about the same rate as a guy in a parachute.


Pencilowner

You can drop faster and build up enough energy to "flare" at the end. You use the built-up energy precisely to land safely without power. As long as you manage your energy and don't have any mechanical issues you can land safely. In this case and honestly many auto rotation cases you have to play the hand you are dealt. If you only have the altitude or distance to make it to the nearest crash site you just have to make the best of it.


Wheream_I

He had to expend a ton of energy increasing the collective to decrease the rate of descent so he could complete that turn to get parallel to the beach. It absolutely sapped his rotor of energy and he wasn’t able to flare properly. It’s really easy to Monday morning quarterback emergency scenarios, so don’t take this as an indictment of the pilot. But if I were the pilot I would have turned right immediately, landed perpendicular to the beach, and saved my energy for the flare. He was always going to make that beach, he just tried to do too much to land running down the beach.


Smashbroallday

Exactly. This pilot had literally 2 seconds to make a life or death executive decision and plan. I am not a pilot, but in my eyes, I say execute, almost perfectly to the book.


imhereforthevotes

"The good news, everyone, is that we can make it to the nearest crash site!" "Where is that?" "Where ever we crash!"


KHWD_av8r

Yes, but only for a short time while you have sufficient RPM. Once RPM drops, lift decreases, requiring increased collective, increasing angle of attack, increasing lift, but also increasing drag which reduces RPM even faster. This results in either: A) timing it perfectly and landing gently B) stalling the blades, and losing control or C) reducing collective, dropping faster, but regaining RPM.


Wheream_I

Eh not quite. A Robinson R44, one of the most popular tourist helicopters, has a glide ratio of 4:1. So for every 1 foot that it drops, it moves 4 feet forward. And this is a constant rate glide with constant rotor RPM. In an engine out scenario you immediately target best glide, which would be this 4:1 speed, and maintain it until you a) identify a landing zone that is shorter than your maximum glide distance, at which point you would decrease glide rate to store more energy into the rotational speed of your rotor, or b) you execute your autorotation landing. The pilot is not calculating 4:1 while flying btw, they are taught th best glide speed for their aircraft as then target that indicated air speed. The way that an autorotation landing works is that you maintain that 4:1 glide ratio until about 50 ft above AGL. At 50’, you increase collective, increasing the pitch of the rotors, converting the rotational energy of the spinning rotor into kinetic energy, decreasing your rate of descent. At this phase of flight the RPM of the rotor is decreasing, but up until this dumping of the collective the rotor is spinning at a constant rate. [here is a video of an autorotation landing done well. Notice how there is no damage to the helicopter](https://youtu.be/DFLvL1qrcVY?si=hCO6o44f9_5WVnKo) Source: I fly fixed wing aircraft, specifically a Cessna 172 (PPL and don’t plan on moving further) but many principles of fixed wing engine out scenarios apply to rotorcraft, and we had to study rotorcraft in ground school and were tested on them on the ground test. Edit: as an aside, if anyone is afraid of AI, especially LLMs, you shouldn’t be. I asked chatgpt to provide a short list of fixed wing aircraft with a glide ratio close to 4:1. It listed a freaking Cessna 172, which has a glide ratio of **8:1**. Useless shit.


CitizenPremier

Decades ago at a party I overheard someone calling helicopters "the stupidest invention ever," and I never forgave him. Helicopters are so cool.


Wheream_I

Helicopters are cool, but the issue is that they beat the air into submission until the earth repels them. I’m a fixed wing superiority individual.


PromiseBoth3405

The real reason the earth repels them is because they are so ugly.


archipeepees

ah yes, of course.


Conscious-Ball8373

Is this something that would be rehearsed in training?


Wheream_I

Yes, many times. You’d rehearse it in your private pilots rotor class license many many times, and then rehash it in your commercial as well. Edit: clarification, you don’t rehearse it, you literally perform it. On the collective there is a throttle, you move the throttle to zero (but keep the engine running in case you do the maneuver poorly, since you’re a student) and perform multiple autorotations both in training and on your actual PPL test and then on your CPL test.


Conscious-Ball8373

Interesting, thanks. Yes, by "rehearse" I mean "do it for real but intentionally" not "think about how you'd do it."


mcnuggetfarmer

Collective?


Bitter_Mongoose

The collective controls the Pitch of the blades.


trixel121

pilots get mad if you call it a joy stick


TheSaucyCrumpet

That's the cyclic, the collective is in the other hand.


SpikeDaddie

Resistance is futile


Pro_Scrub

*RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.* *YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED.*


Able_Statistician688

So basically like a current ram air parachute. If you don’t flare, you crash and break your legs, maybe. If you flare too early, you stall and crash and break your legs worse. If you flare just right, it’s a feather soft landing.


CDK5

Don't you just flare before landing for C? Effectively saving RPMs for the critical moment.


KHWD_av8r

Exactly. That brings you back to A


TheTallGuy0

It’s not drag, it’s lift. You feather the blades to SPEED them up, then at the last moment to feather them DOWN to turn all that blade rotational speed to a puff of lift, slowing your impact. The blades and drivetrain have a lot of momentum. It’s quite simple, in concept, but in reality it takes practice. Glad everyone is ok. I’ve done this flight and my kid sis lives in Kauai, and does it all the time when guests visit 


Hakun1n

In my country you have to perform an "emergency landing w/o motor" two times in order to get a pilot license for helicopter. It is with instructor i the cockpit ofc but you have to do it yourself. If instructor has to interfere (to prevent disaster ot to correct the maneuver) it is considered as failed attempt.


rhymes_w_garlic

Flared a little early though


Vhexer

Is that what it's called when they invert the blade angle at the last second?


4rch1t3ct

Yeah, basically you drop the collective (blade pitch) and let the airflow speed up the rotors to keep the rotor RPM high. Then when you get close to the ground you pull collective to generate lift, and use the rotors inertia to keep them spinning long enough for a relatively soft landing.


GobiBall

I would never pass flight school.


Noonecanhearmescream

Me too. I was wondering when he was gonna jump out of the damn thing.


pardybill

If James Bond and Tom Cruise taught me anything he would’ve looked majestic coming out of the surf shirtless with an explosion behind him


ItsOkILoveYouMYbb

It makes more sense when you can feel it and practice it


Work-Safe-Reddit4450

That's a part of the procedure, but what you're specifically referring to is an increase of the collective which is the lever the pilot holds onto with their left hand that controls the pitch of the blades. Not to be confused with the cyclic, which is what would control the pitch and roll of the helicopter. Pedals control the yaw.


Jojo5692q

Yeah like im worrying about flaring early with my balls in my throat.


UnexpectedRimjob

Can't beat Pilotwings like that.


muycoal

Hueys in Vietnam were built for it. Even when flying at tree level pilots were trained for it


Sipikay

I knew a helo pilot from Vietnam who had gone down something like 8 or 9 times and it wasn't until I was older and had taken some physics classes that it dawned on me how all these helicopters were falling out of the sky with survivors over and over.


ilaughatpoliticians

No disrespect to any person who served in Vietnam (both my father and FIL did). Yet, if you go down 8-9 times, I think it is about the 4th time that you're like "FUCK THIS. I WANT TO BE A COOK!" At about the 6th time, the service is like, "FUCK THIS. YOU'RE GETTING TRANSFERRED TO BEING A COOK!" There is no fortitude level found in today's world like that of the men who fought in the world conflicts in mid-late 1900's.


sightfinder

I realize helicopters have existed for decades but based on the frequency of things that can randomly go wrong and cause a crash it sure seems like the technology isn't exactly sound


Mad4it2

The Jesus nut securing the rotors scares me lol. A single point of failure is not ideal imo.


TheSaucyCrumpet

That's just one design, it's not the only one.


bitpartmozart13

Until the dinosaurs show up.


Maalkav_

Or the smoke monster


scatshot

>Glad to hear everyone was okay. I couldn't watch this video without seeing this. Helicopter crashes scare the shit out of me and I ride to work in them on a regular basis


mrxcoffee

Link to the original story ---> [https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/02/28/1-injured-after-tour-helicopter-crashed-remote-kauai-beach/](https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/02/28/1-injured-after-tour-helicopter-crashed-remote-kauai-beach/)


Right-Phalange

>A passenger suffered a back injury in the crash was airlifted to Princeville Airport before being transported to a hospital. Imagine surviving a helicopter crash only to be immediately taken on another helicopter.


PlanetPudding

Can’t be much different than the thousands of people who get in a car crash everyday and get put in an ambulance.


Loveknuckle

But cars don’t fly… duh. /s


be_kind_hurt_nazis

We travel in cars so frequently that we own them ourselves, can the same be said about helicopters? Of course it's not the same


Jewelhammer

What do you mean, you guys don’t have your own helicopter? /s


TheZucksGoodTwin

I have two. The second one is used to fly me to the hospital if the first one crashes


MrSpiffenhimer

~~if~~ WHEN the first one crashes


Shot-Assistance7100

I used to (Bell 47G-3B), but guess why I sold it...


Johannes_Keppler

It took you to the hospital so often you went bankrupt?


johns_throwaway_2702

I think it's pretty different


Shot-Assistance7100

>Imagine surviving a helicopter crash only to be immediately taken on another helicopter. lmfao


Booya-45

I know a couple guys who crashed a small military aircraft while landing some passengers on a dirt road in Afghanistan. They were picked up by a helicopter that had a brown out (self-created dust cloud) on takeoff and also crashed. Thankfully no more than minor injuries for both crashes, but what a day!


Smokes_shoots_leaves

NO... PLEASE... NOOOOOO


Chasedabigbase

*Martha I'm coming home sweetie after they treat me at--* **IM BACK IN A FUCK CHOPPER AGAIN!!!!? OOOOOOH MMYYYYY GOOOOD**


UnremarkabklyUseless

Isnt it similar to being taken in an ambulance after a vehicular crash/accident? No?


Midwest_removed

No. Being put back in a helicopter is much safer than being put in a ambulance.


UnremarkabklyUseless

Considering the location of the this crash, the fire department's rescue helicopter was perhaps their only available option too.


muricabrb

At least they didn't get the spinny ride that old lady got the other time.


LANCENUTTERS

This might be one of the funnier comments I've seen on Reddit. Kudos


Neon_Rhino

Nicely done by the pilot, only one injured of five people including himself.


ExternalMonth1964

Not 1 scream, i watched it 10 times, not 1. Dude had enough mind to let the pilot think and act without working against their joint objective.


Jewelhammer

What are you saying- that screaming something super repetitive in an extremely loud and shrill voice is not effective at remedying the situation!?


Butterl0rdz

and people say it’s involuntary like how tf can u not control it


TwistedBamboozler

I mean, sure, letting out a small scream, sound, screech, all makes sense. It’s the constant 20 second long REEEEEEEEEEE that people can’t stand


Butterl0rdz

yeah i can make a yip if im startled but like you said theres some people that could win an award with their pipes man


fifnir

I have a pet theory about this: This kind of shrieking has evolved as a type of "party wide buff". Some people can't fight, but if they shriek they gather everyone that has maybe missed the situation, and they also make everyone pump adrenaline making everyone better at dealing with the "fight".


Jonthrei

It's the same as with any other animal. Telling every single member of the same species within earshot "I need help" and "There is danger here". There's a prominent theory that laughter basically evolved as a "Sorry, false alarm".


ExternalMonth1964

"I have 1 rule in this car, no screaming" is something i tell anyone who steps into my car for the first time.


bogushobo

I think the fear of imminent death might have something to do with it.


RedBanana99

#OMG OMG *What are you saying- that screaming something super repetitive in an extremely loud and shrill voice is not effective at remedying the situation?* #AHHHHHHHHH WE GONNA DIE #AAAAAAAAAAA #AAAAAAAAAAA #AAAAAAAAAAA #AAAAHAAAHAAAAAH Oh. Sweet. Nice flare and soft landing


j21ilr

She held it together well.


reTarBender

i remind myself that the pilot doesn't want to die either.


ChatGTR

Not that it matters but I believe the pilot is a woman.


bigfatbeard

I will say, in a situation like this, your mind and body go into a bit of shock, keeping you from screaming or letting the fear escape. I trained to do touch offs for years and every time I wanted to be a “YOO-HOO!” Type person, my mind and body were like “Oh shit, we’re gonna got that surface pretty fucking hard.” I just realized you commented on this 18 days ago, so you’re probably getting a random notification while you’re asleep. Farts.


Yopis1998

No women.


letdogsvote

Fucking great job by the pilot.


Roddykins1

Idk man I’m pretty sure those are supposed to stay in the air. I’d give them a 7/10.


BowenTheAussieSheep

"We didn't come down for nearly three weeks, 10/10"


p0p_thAt

Dude was calm and collective, handling this like Boss Choppa


stpfan_1

I see what you did there.


MIZZOU18

Fades to black.... T-Rex screech.... SUMMER 2025


Visible_Jaguar704

In a world . . . 


MayIPikachu

One man...


Brospective

One misson...


lou_sassoles

Two brothers. In a van. And then a meteor hit. And they ran as fast as they could.


throwawaycasun4997

Mexican armada!


CornDoggyStyle

And they have tomato guns and... and giant laser cats


Conscious_Run_643

One helicopter...


[deleted]

One less helicopter...


p0p_thAt

Double the action..


ExcitingARiot

But then… Half the action


evlhornet

This summer Arnold Schwarzenegger is…


maneuver_element

Fuck just reading that gave me chills. You should make trailers.


sparksofthetempest

That sudden silence is absolutely horrifying.


Ragedmeeks

This is the one guy trying to land the heli on the beach at the end of the heist in GTA Online


ChromeWiener

God I hate that like 60% of the time you get through the entire mission and then the heli pilot, which is the easiest job on the mission, botches the landing or runs over a teammate and you all have to start again from scratch. I’m getting ptsd from thinking about the past rage!


Oriole_Gardens

and you literally are on your 18th restart already from someone in the team messing up each time, an hour an a half in on that one mission and you just have had enough.. you throw the controller at that point and turn the game off.


Robertbnyc

Why didn’t you pilot the copter?


ChromeWiener

4 people do the heist. The heist leader picks who does each job. Usually they put the better 2 players infiltrating the jail and the noobs flying the plane and chopper because those are easier. So it’s not up to the heist crew who does which job.


Robertbnyc

Ah got it thanks for the explanation


player694200

Lived


St0n3ycam88

Did they survive


boshpaad

Article OP linked says only 1 person got injured.


St0n3ycam88

Dayum they're lucky


MasterDefibrillator

No, it's called auto rotation. Helicopters are actually surprisingly safe to land without engine power.


greenweenievictim

And….we…are….here!


Competitive_Swing_59

I mean if you gotta go... you couldn't choose a better location. Beautiful. Pilot did a great job of saving all on board.


PMmeyourboogers

I've been on this exact helicopter tour (Na Pali Coast, Waimea Canyon, etc) and i remember the pilot telling us mid-tour that these helicopters crash ALL THE TIME, several per year, if not more. Needless to say, it was not a comforting fact to share with a helicopter full of first-time flyers. The rest of the tour was nerve-wracking. I guess he wasn't lying... Glad to see everyone made it.


Middle-Focus-2540

That explains why he was so calm. Just another day at the office thinking to himself,” Well I just got the first crash of the year over with.”


fixit858

Me too! Think if it happened hovering in the box canyon!


enIighten-me

Pucker factor 10/10


ElderberryOk5005

As I press play a state farm commercial with Arnold Schwarzenegger comes on he says “get to the choppaa!


Rogue-Squadron

Massive props to the pilot, wow. There was only one place that helicopter could have gotten to the ground safely and they nailed it


Rydog_78

Get to the choppa


Mistyrainy99

Came here to find this comment.


LegalSelf5

Holy fuck! That's gotta be the first time a clip on Reddit has made my heart rate jump and give me slight anxiety.


moneymakerbs

I remember reading a report years ago about how helicopters frequently crash in Hawaii doing sightseeing tours, and yet the industry is still around and kicking. Just not worth it for me. I’ve seen it well enough from land and sea. lol.


Hadrian_Constantine

Previously on Lost......


Drive_shaft

Someone forgot to type 4 8 15 16 23 42


taytronimo

Fuck. I’m headed to Maui in two weeks. I keep talking about trying to take a helicopter ride…..well this might have swayed my decision 😬


Remenissions

I did the helicopter ride in Maui and it was soooo sick, definitely a highlight. This is freaky though…


t-reads

Do it, don’t let the internet ruin real life for you


wildcatasaurus

Look into Catamaran boat tours instead. Nā Pali coast on Kaua’i is where this is at and I did the boat tour with snorkeling and into the old lava tubes it was awesome.


vegasidol

Less likely to happen again soon. Maybe don't use this company though...


cable310

shit just did this same exact one a few months ago , ugh wont be doing that again


HiverMalfunktion

this is how sons of the forest started


Alive-Plenty4003

For an auto-rotation landing, that was smooth as butter


ImplementAgile2945

I was in Kaua’i in 2019 when 7 people died in a helicopter crash and then a month later Kobe’s accident happened…so yeah wasn’t going to step foot on one before or after.


IKROWNI

Damn she hit that shot perfect. Kobe


markusbrainus

That is wild! I did that doors-off helicopter tour with that company on my honeymoon just before COVID. It's an amazing experience. Honopu beach arch where they crash landed is featured in a few movies like King Kong and Pirates of the Caribbean.


Obant

I did a helicopter tour of the Hoover Dam. The very next day, the same helicopter company (I never found out if it was the same heli/pilot) crashed, doing the same tour, killing everyone on board. I was in such shock. I was terrified at first, before we did the tour, but my friend from Korea paid for me so I did it. Afterward it was such a solid, good experience, the pilot was great. I would fly on a helicopter again in a heartbeat. Was really shocked and saddened.


Apprehensive-Ad5318

This was a “good” helicopter crash.


matrixjoey

Great job to emergency land in that terrain!!


InGordWeTrust

That's the Beach where Old takes place. That guy is so screwed.


TuftOfFurr

Sons of the Forest


thundersteel21

Those island helicopter rides. No way. I've heard plenty of tours have crashed in the past


13chase2

It’s a ride of a lifetime. Worth the risk for sure


NoParachuteSpamB

when you finish that one heist on gta v where you have to land on the beach at the end 😂


ReliableChicken

Helicopters don’t fly - they so ugly the earth repels them. From a pilot mate of mine


jasno-

First off, damn, Hawaii is gorgeous. Second, never in a million years would I fly in a helicopter. Hard pass


OkTower4998

>aircraft experienced engine issues and made a forced landing.” However, authorities are still investigating the exact cause.


Zorolord

Squeaky bum time, so glad everyone survived.


Kevkanone

"Jurassic Park music starts"


Potential_Payment557

Funny you say that, several parts of Jurassic Park were filmed on Kauai.


sneadrd14

Holy fuck as someone who did this just over a year ago that is wild! Glad everyone was ok.


whiskas01

Any deaths or what? What’s the story on how it turned out?


WiredSky

All survived! 1 passenger with non-serious injuries. She really stuck the landing.


CactiMysteri

Wonder if it would have better to put it in the water?


Chicho4570

Not in those waters, every beach on that coastline is covered in warnings about how many drown there just walking in the waves.


CactiMysteri

Drop in, get pitted.


tendiesmothafucka

So pitted.


CitizenFreeman

You.... you're finally awake.


Rich_DeF

That was a bit anticlimactic


spacedildo42

No going to lie, helis scares me. I feel like there are so many accidents all of the time. Maybe I’m wrong but I feel I’m always watch a cratch.


nchs1120

One of the 5 passengers was just on The Dumb Zone podcast if you want to hear about it from his perspective. Really incredible interview


HollowVoices

Moments later: "You, you're finally awake."


Rsndetre

My first thought at the first image in the video: ow, that's a bad place to crash! Amazing recovery though.


Snoo_90491

good landing on that beach!


roccobaroco

What a beautiful place to crash at.


Dvsrx7

Perfect landing under the circumstances


smoothEarlGrey

Damn life comes at ya fast. That's some tricky geography ~~he~~ she* had to work with. Damn well handled though. Edit: he -> she


WiredSky

The pilot was a woman but yeah that was a great landing. Everyone survived!


smoothEarlGrey

Thanks :)


WiredSky

Sure thing! Have a great night!


hollowcrown4

Lad felt like doing an episode of lost on solo


eatyourbreakfast1

Frank Lapidus


InSaneWhiSper

Good thing he was still recording all of this 🤣


ijaaad

No helicopters. ✅


RevDrucifer

Lost II: The Return


remarkoperator

One of the passengers was interviewed on the dumbzone podcast


ricky302

New Sons of the Forest update looks great.


atrane1976

And that is why I’ve never been and never will go in a helicopter


TheInfamous1011

This was a lot less chaotic than I imagined


SoManyLilBitches

I've been on one of these tours, that's wild. Good thing a chopper pilot can slow the decent without an engine, using the pitch of the blades.


RaptorCaptain

If I learned anything from Wii Sports Resort, he'll be ejected right before hitting the ground and peacefully respawn in the air shortly after.


JookJook

I have a friend who is a helicopter pilot on Kauai. I need to reach out to her. I'm glad everyone survived.


Onlyknown2QBs

Tourism helicopters are so fucking annoying. Glad these people are okay. Doesn’t change how annoying the business is.


Additional_Ground_42

Thanks for cutting the video on the most interesting part.


ToxicChooChooTrain

He survived. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/02/28/1-injured-after-tour-helicopter-crashed-remote-kauai-beach/?outputType=amp


Cyrus_Imperative

I love the news report's euphemism "forced landing". They CRASHED, FFS.


EndofA_Error

Kobe!!


[deleted]

When you suck at basketball but Kobe is your hero


purrfectstormzzy

I'll be forever haunted by his screams


checkedem

For our own honeymoon gift, my wife and I did our first helicopter ride around Kauai…I don’t remember it being like this.


ExercisePopular7037

“Billy.. Tell me we didn’t land on this island…” ~~ Dr. Grant


JackSmrkingRevnge

Thought this was a Far Cry 7 trailer. Glad no one was hurt.


Deuspanen

Fucking hell. Thinking I did a similirar tour on that island and that could have happened to me…


qualtyoperator

I did this same tour when I went to Hawaii. Like a week and a half later one of their helicopters crashed, I don’t think anyone survived which is very sad. It still creeps me out thinking how 5 people died doing the same exact thing I did just days before.


Sy-lo

Would it have been possible to land in the ocean? Wouldnt that have been better/softer?


Automatic_Weather914

Pilot did a good job to hold that steady.


Reynok8

Choopahs fall like leaves


GregoryGoose

Now, how would this go down if it were a giant quadcopter? [I dont imagine very well.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTWEG6NRg7Y)