So glad the pilot (and onlookers) came to no serious harm. Helicopters are so unforgiving of mechanical failure, and so often have to operate in intrinsically hairy situations, particularly in the military. Respect to the folks that fly them.

yeah that exaclty what happen, 1min 40 you see him jump to grab the cable..whitch pulls it tight and over top the main rotor.What an impatient fool!http://www.youtube.c...b?blend=22&ob=5

The high-def video shows it well. With 20-20 hindsight...it appears to me no matter what the handler did the geometry says that the tether attached to the belly would hit eventually…because of its short length. At best there was zero margin for safety. It’s a bit like an anchor rode for a boat; the lay of the lines is part of estimating the length. A longer tether would have hung vertically as they maneuvered to release it.

I agree totaly, someone somewere didnt do there maths right.At the start of the vid you can see the 3 other support lines to hold the tower up...to me it looks like they used the forth support line to lift the tower into place.The support lines go from top of tower to the ground, long enough to be under slight tension, so yep, definalty not long enough.But the pilot had over 20 years experience..maybe he just overlooked this..maybe he was just about to realise when the fool jumped up and pulled the cable.Why did he jump up...it was about a foot away..

What, collectively, did they thinkg they were doing?

They collectively killed the collective.

When you fall off the horse, the best thing to do is to get right back on it again....Good to see Greg Gribble back in the air again.There is a great interview with him in this story: http://www.stuff.co....lot-flies-againCheers

It wont play for me..just constantly loading.So annoying...its www. adress.(WORLD WIDE!).so why cant i view it!?