Chopper 2 goes flying off without any patients as nobody was hurt in the helicopter ditching. Tried to get a shot of Chopper 2 flying over the skid sticking out of the water but the tide was too high and waves were covering the skid when it flew over, the skid appears 30 seconds after the helicopter had flown by.
Do more accidents, fires and crazy things happen around the full moon? Worked a split-shift today and had a basketball game to shoot at night. But got a call a couple hours before the game after a helicopter ditched in the ocean.
Actually it was pretty much a controlled landing in the water as the pilot did a great job of autorotating the helicopter down to a safe water landing. Nobody injured, aircraft in good physical shape (but soaked in salt water), minimal reef damage and only about 30 yards off-shore. You can read about it in West Hawaii Today. Didn’t get a chance for too many photos since the skid was backlit and only seen above water in the trough of the waves. Made for a long walk down the long beach to get to the site with all my gear.