I was recently searching through the NTSB accident database, curious to find out some details on a minor plane crash that happened here a little while back. While so doing, I ran into a very interesting accident.
It seems that back in May, a small 1950′s-era helicopter was taking off at from a ranch in rural Colorado. Everything was going smoothly on takeoff until, “the right rear skid caught on a nearby truck trailer fender.”
Now, I must admit, I’m not a helicopter pilot. Some of the finer points of helicopter operations may perhaps escape me; however, I like to think that my powers of spatial reasoning are at least up to scratch. And if I read that quote correctly, the helicopter managed to catch the rear part of one of its skids on the fender of a very-close-by vehicle.
Wow. Think about the setup that had to be in place for that accident to happen. Someone feels stupid. (There were no injuries.)