NG chopper crew grounded when their helicopter created wind

| October 12, 2024 | 31 Comments

These things make stuff blow around

I was going to put this in my stupid people post, but it’s too good to not get its own post.

As the hurricane relief efforts are still underway in North Carolina, it seems one National Guard helicopter crew ran afoul of common courtesy and made a big windy mess. It seems they were trying to deliver some generators, but the densely packed area had some unsecured supplies that went a flying. The crew saw they were making things worse and abandoned the landing. All good, right?

No. The incident is now under investigation and the crew have been grounded. I’m sure there’s a plethora of Black Hawk crews in NC, so they can spare these poor aviators. No good deed and all that.

Army Times has the story;

A National Guard helicopter attempting to deliver hurricane assistance to people in western North Carolina earlier this week instead blew away goods and resources with its rotor wash.

The North Carolina National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter attempted to drop off generators at a local civilian organization, according to the North Carolina National Guard, but as it hovered over a people-dense area, powerful wind from its propellers sent a flurry of objects below flying.

“The crew immediately identified the situation, aborted the landing for safety reasons, and departed the area,” the North Carolina National Guard said in a statement on social media Tuesday. The event is under investigation and the crew is grounded until the investigation is completed, the statement said.

The Guard said it was working with the civilian organization affected by the event to identify any damage that occurred as a result.

“Safety is the NCNG’s number one priority, especially with the high volume of air operations currently happening across the region,” the statement said. “While the NCNG strives for precision in every mission, sometimes things don’t go as planned.”

Videos circulating on local media outlets and online show a helicopter hovering loudly over what appears to be a volunteer supply area in a parking lot. The helicopter descends for several seconds before its rotor wash begins hurling debris from the site into the air. Large tents are flung through the air and people flee.

“That was a North Carolina National Guard helicopter, it’s under our command, and I’ll take responsibility for it and we own it,” said Maj. Gen. Todd Hunt, the adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard, in an interview with reporters on Tuesday.

He said the helicopter abandoned the mission to deliver the generator after realizing there were too many people in the vicinity for a safe landing.

As of Sunday, 1,700 North Carolina National Guard personnel were assisting search and rescue efforts in the region, according to a press release from the office of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

Interesting that whomever writes for Army Times notes that the military aircraft was “hovering loudly.” Maybe next time they can put a couple of extra hush kits on before they rush out to provide emergency relief. The author’s bio at the end of the article doesn’t note any military service. Which certainly explains the increasingly terrible coverage from all the Military Times outlets. You’d think they could make it a point to hire vets for this sort of stuff.

Category: Army, National Guard

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5JC

I saw the video, they did blow shit around pretty good. The narrator tries to make it sound like they were out for some sinister purpose. Lack of coordination has been even more problematic than normal during this event.

I haven’t heard any complaints about the biker vets with their hillbilly air force though.

MSG Eric

If only there was an organization in the federal government that could ensure coordination of emergency response, disaster relief supplies and coordination, and to ensure logistical capabilities and supply chain functions were working correctly together…

5JC

Such an organization would be profoundly useful in an emergency. I mean provided that the federal government wasn’t running it.

Skivvy Stacker

Fuck ’em. If people can’t glue, or tie shit down without the government telling them to do it, especially in places like New Orleans, Detroit, East LA, and Haiti, then they don’t deserve anyone coming in with large paychecks within…oh, let’s say 10 days after a major act of God.

Odie

I would think the helo pilots would recognize unsecured items on the ground before attempting to land at someplace not an airfield.

Anonymous

Don’t attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, as Robert Heinlein said– ’cause stupidity is more likely.

Last edited 26 days ago by Anonymous
Hate_me

You’re paraphrasing Robert Hanlon’s razor – “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Robert Heinlein wrote: “You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.” Very similar in meaning, and predating Hanlon by about 40 years, but a different quote.

Skivvy Stacker

And my OWN razor, which is; “Never attribute stupidity to anyone in gubmint who says they’re there to help, until they tell you they’ve come to help”.

USMC Steve

The Gateway STL guys took two UH-1H hueys over there and have been tearing it up making deliveries that larger helos cannot get into.

Deckie

They hover loudly? I always thought they sounded like this…

https://youtu.be/x4YGSlOVmM0

E. Conboy

Loudly? Where?

KoB

Better to have tried and failed than to have not tried at all. Good on the Gnrl to “own” it, but somebody had to be/should have been directing the whirlybird in to that spot. Hey, fecal matter occurs, and I’m sure that “Command and Control” of all the different parts is a real cluster right now.

MSG Eric

I guess Airwolf was unavailable to provide support?

E. Conboy

Late again? Daaaam!

Last edited 26 days ago by E. Conboy
David

Somehow I doubt the crew flew to a random spot – they were told to go there, which puts the onus on the folks on the ground. The crew tried to land, identified a problem, and aborted – no fault.

From what we hear, food and water is not as urgently requested as generators – bet waving one off hurts.

David

“previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the ongoing Abused by the Badge investigation.” From the author’s bio…sounds like a leftist to me

Anonymous

True, in the video, people taking cellphone video are standing in the middle of a big empty space (you know, like a helicopter might need to land) and don’t move.

“Move, dammit!” I can almost hear to crew going as they hover because they don’t comms on that end to get folk off the LZ.

SFC D

Could be that they were standing in the middle of that big empty space because they didn’t want a helo landing there. Kind of counterproductive when everything gets scattered to the 4 winds.

rgr769

Back in the early 70’s, I discovered that very few of the writers at Army Times were former military veterans.

2banana

Get a JTAC or Pathfinder on the ground NG.

Harry

This happened up in Burnsville, about 40 miles NE of me. The conspiracy theories abounded…claiming deep-state operatives were harassing Trump voters. While the degenerate left will stoop to the lowest of levels to maintain power, I didn’t buy this as harassment for one second; simply couldn’t land and left the area. This is yet another reason why I don’t participate in social media.

11B-Mailclerk

They saw “Airwolf”. You just flip the “quiet mode” switch.

Skivvy Stacker
Army-Air Force Guy

“Blue Thunder” had a ‘hush mode’ too.

11B-Mailclerk

NG Operation Broken Wind

Skivvy Stacker

That’s just bullshit!
I’ve NEVER been grounded when I’ve broken wind!

11B-Mailclerk

Phhhhht

DROP THE RAMP! DROP THE RAMP!

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tom reynolds

Why were they flying with no transponder or numbers

USMC Steve

The place they were trying to land was not designated as an LZ for one thing. Several people said they could see the crew, and their faces were covered. No one could see any markings of any sort on the bird. No serial number, no US ARMY markings, nothing.

Carl

A few points regarding the NG explanation based on earlier reporting.

1. The group was not expecting a delivery, and did not recognize the helicopter.

2. The group said they had coordinated with authorities to have the area declared a no-fly zone.

3. Delivering generators? If you watch the video, the street lights are on, which is strongly suggestive of power in that location being on. Maybe they should have been delivering to someone without power.