NG chopper crew grounded when their helicopter created wind

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