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Darwin Awards
2011 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

If cows could fly

2011 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

On June 19 2010, Lonnie Kennedy of Unalaska, Alaska, was killed in what I can only describe as the most absurd deviation from standard helicopter operation I have ever had the privilege to read about. The incident began with a plastic wrapped bovine loose on an island ranch in the Aleutians. At first the pilot attempted to use his Robinson R44 helicopter to coral and capture the animal. This in and of itself is a perfectly normal and standard use of a helicopter. However, this did not produce the desired results and the pilot quickly adapted his plans. Attempts were then made to land on the plastic to stop the animal. Landing on a moving ship is hard enough; forget about landing on a piece of plastic trailing behind a panic stricken bull. The pilot also attempted to knock the animal over. A bad idea all around especially when the animal in question likely weighs almost half as much as the aircraft. Finally the pilot made the fatal decision to lift the bull by hooking one of the aircraft's skids under the plastic. The result was an effect commonly referred to as dynamic aircraft rollover. The helicopter pitched forward and right impacting the ground and killing both the pilot and the bull. In order to fully comprehend the impact of this pilot's decisions you must first understand a few basics of helicopter operation. First never lift more weight than your aircraft is designed to. At the very least this will lead to a loss of rotor rpm and result in settling and possibly un-commanded horizontal rotation. The R44 is rated for a 900lb load including pilot, passengers, and fuel. After taking out pilot weight, 200lbs, and fuel, roughly 150lbs, we are left with 550lbs max load. Also keep in mind this assumes a standard day at sea level. Second; aircraft center of gravity limits must be maintained at all times. This means that even if an aircraft is equipped to carry external loads - this on likely wasn't - those loads must be properly hoisted from a central location, i.e. not the skid. And finally; do not allow landing gear to contact large or stationary grounded object as this will create a fulcrum about which the aircraft will rotate. These are some of the first lessons a helicopter pilot learns, and as such should not be easily forgotten. The results clearly speak for themselves.

Submitted on 06/28/2011

Submitted by: Jesse
Reference: Anchorage Daily News 28JUN2011 WWW.ADN.COM

Copyright © 2011 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks, Jesse, but we've already received this story.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: For Darwin's Eyes
What Bruce said. But I like this write-up, so I'll mark it for Darwin's eyes.


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