What are the odds of THIS happening ... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

highthief · 05-13-2008, 05:37 PM

I doubt there is an actuary alive who would have seen this one coming. A chopper falls from the sky and kills you as you're out for your morning stroll.

Pretty awful in some ways, but what a way to go out:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/425011

Quote:

THE CANADIAN PRESS

CRANBROOK, B.C.–A pedestrian crushed today under the exploding fireball of a crashed helicopter had little warning of the tragedy, witnesses said.

The person was walking along a residential street in the quiet community of Cranbrook, B.C., when the chopper dropped out of the sky and onto the pavement, killing three people on board the aircraft and the pedestrian below.

The chopper exploded into a fireball as it hit the street, leaving a trail of flames and wreckage as it skidded for several metres along the street.

"There was a pedestrian walking on the street across from me and he was just about at the back alley and I don't think he even knew what hit him," Elmer Bautz, who saw the crash from his front window, told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview.

"It actually touched the pedestrian and I think that's when it decapitated (the pedestrian)."

The Transportation Safety Board confirmed the four deaths – the pilot and two passengers in the helicopter and the pedestrian – and said the aircraft was a Bell 206 Jet Ranger hired by BC Hydro.

Bautz said he had seen the small blue-and-white helicopter flying above his neighbourhood before, and it was flying low above the houses for several minutes Tuesday without any problems.

But he said something seemed amiss just seconds before the helicopter came crashing down.

"My friend and I, we could tell there was something wrong because he was kind of fluttering and sputtering and I kind of thought there was trouble but it happened so bloody quick," Bautz said.

"He came down at about a 45-degree angle, and he came down pretty fast and it exploded into a fireball.... It was tremendously loud."

Bautz said several people living nearby tried to pull people from the wreckage but to no avail.

RCMP confirmed the helicopter was operated by Bighorn Helicopters Inc., based in Cranbrook, and was being flown by one of the company's senior pilots at the time.

No names have been released.

Area resident Richard Fairchild said the helicopter was so low as it was flying around that he couldn't hear the other end of a phone call as it buzzed by.

He watched as the aircraft made its final pass, flying over some trees and then suddenly dropping to the ground.

"It looked like he was trying to land or something, but there was no control," he said.

Fairchild said the fire was out by mid-afternoon, and burnt helicopter parts were scattered across the road.

Mary Fiorentino lives about two blocks from the crash site in Cranbrook, a small city of more than 18,000 people in southeastern B.C.

"There's not much to see. It burnt. There was a fire," she said. "It was big rubble. It was just demolished, just pieces on the ground. But they've got it all covered with a tarp now."

Fiorentino said she walked down to the crash site to where a large crowd gathered. The streets around the scene were blocked off.

"They've got another tarp there that they say a body's under," she said.

The helicopter was lying on the road, but close to a lawn.

"The houses are right there. Fortunately, it didn't hit any homes or cars parked on the street parked close to it," Fiorentino said.

"The coroner was there and he looked under (the tarp)."

Three Transportation Safety Board investigators were dispatched to Cranbrook to look into the crash, said board spokesman Bill Yearwood.

"Of course they will be trying to see first if there was any catastrophic failure in the aircraft that we might need to look and see if there's other similar aircraft at risk," said Yearwood.

"That's their first goal. The wreckage will be examined on site and then transported somewhere where we can have a closer look at it."

BC Hydro CEO Bob Elton said the two employees in the chopper were on a routine line patrol.

The said in a statement that everyone at the company felt ``overwhelming grief" at the news.

"This loss will be felt by all of us at BC Hydro and in the communities where they lived and served," Elton said.

"I am joined by Hydro employees across the province in expressing my deepest and most sincere condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims of this accident."

Bighorn Helicopters has been involved in two board investigations over the past 10 years – one in Alberta and another near Cranbrook. Neither incident involved fatalities.

In March 2002, a Bighorn Eurocopter AS350-D working for the Alberta government near Blairmore, Alta., to support weather-station maintenance and snow-pack analysis was caught in a wind gust in mountainous terrain.

The chopper, with three people aboard, crashed into some trees and rolled on its side as the pilot tried to abort the landing at a weather station. The pilot and front-seat passenger were seriously hurt but the rear passenger received only minor injuries.

A Transportation Safety Board investigation found the pilot tried to land in wind conditions that most likely exceeded the helicopter's performance limits and could not control the aircraft when it was hit by strong downdrafts or wind shear.

In January 1998, another Bighorn Eurocopter AS350 with a pilot and two passengers taking off from a landing pad near Cranbrook experienced a sudden loss of rotor speed about 25 metres above the ground and began to descend.

The pilot made a forced landing on a snowy slope and the chopper rolled on its side. All three occupants escaped injury and safety board investigators could find no evidence that snow or ice blocked the engine's air intake or any other mechanical defect that would cause the loss of rotor speed.

Yearwood said the Transportation Safety Board is aware of the previous incidents involving Bighorn aircraft.

The Bell JetRanger involved in Tuesday's crash is a model that's been manufactured since the early 1960s, a longtime workhorse in the helicopter business. It can carry a pilot and up to four passengers.

QuasiMondo · 05-13-2008, 07:04 PM

Sometimes, it just ain't your lucky day.

Willravel · 05-13-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

What are the odds of THIS happening?

100%.

smoore · 05-13-2008, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

100%.

Wanna play cards?

Willravel · 05-13-2008, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoore

Wanna play cards?

No seriously. The odds of that happening to that person is 100%.

I finally get to use all those stupid math classes from college.

Rekna · 05-13-2008, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smoore

Wanna play cards?

Willravel is correct, the odds of that particular thing has occurred thus it is 100%.

If the OP would have said what are the odds of a this happening to any random pedestrian then it would be much different.

smoore · 05-13-2008, 07:21 PM

ah, semantics

WTF? You knew what he meant. Now I know what you guys mean.

FFS, how inane.

Baraka_Guru · 05-13-2008, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

No seriously. The odds of that happening to that person is 100%.

I didn't know you were a fatalist.

* * * * *

What a way to go though. A ball of fire is always spectacular.

KellyC · 05-13-2008, 07:29 PM

If something falls from the sky and hit someone, we call that person being punished by the heaven/sky/god in our culture.

But...RIP to all.

Destrox · 05-13-2008, 07:40 PM

Now... watch the life insurance say its not covered.

Shauk · 05-13-2008, 07:47 PM

on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

blahblah454 · 05-13-2008, 08:00 PM

Wow, what a harsh way to go. I feel sorry for the guys family for sure. That would be kind of hard to take, husband or whatever is just out for a stroll and a helicopter lands on him. Very brutal.

Willravel · 05-13-2008, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru

What a way to go though. A ball of fire is always spectacular.

This is what I was thinking before turning this into a statistics classroom.

Me? I'll probably die of cancer or dementia in me late 80s. But it'd be fucking sweet to die of something spectacular, so long as I've lived a full life.

Meteor strike. Testing an experimental aircraft. Nailing a supermodel. Murdered by an ex-president.

shesus · 05-13-2008, 08:20 PM

I've thought about that.

Helicopters scare me. I would never walk under one and get nervous when they are close by. There is a landing spot for life flight helicopters down the street from my parent's house. I would always go inside when I heard one coming.

Maybe I have a helicopter phobia.

Fotzlid · 05-13-2008, 09:19 PM

Didn't that happen on "ER"?
One of the characters was killed by a falling helicopter.

Quote:

Helicopters scare me. I would never walk under one and get nervous when they are close by. There is a landing spot for life flight helicopters down the street from my parent's house. I would always go inside when I heard one coming.

I'm the opposite. I would love to learn to fly one and working for Med-Flight sounds like a really awesome job.

Hain · 05-13-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

100%.

Technically, he said odds, so it would be 1:0, favoring hits.

And I think it wouldn't be so unlucky... how many helicopters have crashed and not landed on unsuspecting, civilian joggers?

Shauk · 05-14-2008, 01:07 AM

and people say jogging is good for you! HAH!

Hain · 05-14-2008, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shauk

and people say jogging is good for you! HAH!

I am sure the surgeon general will put a warning label on all jogging shoes:
"Warning: Death while jogging increases dramatically when smashed by helicopter!"

stevie667 · 05-14-2008, 01:31 AM

You know what would be really unlucky?

It was a Medivac helicopter that crashed outside the hospital on someone running to see their relative who was being flown to hospital. That would suck!

The whole thing reminds me of the first episode of Dead Like Me.

dlish · 05-14-2008, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Destrox

Now... watch the life insurance say its not covered.

lets ask Jazz

The_Jazz · 05-14-2008, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Destrox

Now... watch the life insurance say its not covered.

Unless he saw what was happening and ran underneath it on purpose, life insurance will pay. Life insurance always pays unless there's a REALLY good reason not to, and there's usually only one reason - fraud. If you off yourself to give your SO the life insurance, that's defrauding the company. Same if you fake your own death. Beyond that, the actuaries were just wrong and they have to pay out. If you ever compare a life insurance policy to a homeowners policy, you'll see that the life insurance contract is a whole lot shorter and has a whole lot few exclusions. If you die in an accident, no matter how strange or incredible it may be, they're paying off.

Bizarre story BTW.

Willravel · 05-14-2008, 07:27 AM

If this were fraud, it would likely be one of the most elaborate frauds in history.

Lasereth · 05-14-2008, 07:33 AM

Somewhat off topic:

I will never, ever, get in a helicopter. People ask why?? Well let's see: IF IT BREAKS, YOU DIE. If an airplane's engine breaks, you can coast and possibly land. If a car's engine breaks, you coast off to the side of the road. If a boat's engine dies, you just get stuck in the water. If a helicopter's engine breaks, it falls out of the sky and you die. There is no coasting, there is no safety, you're dead. I think it's absurd to get in an aircraft that is suspended in air by a mechanical motor. At least airplanes can fly without an engine, if not slowly towards the ground.

Cynthetiq · 05-14-2008, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fotzlid

Didn't that happen on "ER"?
One of the characters was killed by a falling helicopter.

I'm the opposite. I would love to learn to fly one and working for Med-Flight sounds like a really awesome job.

the very same character that lost a limb to a helicopter accident.

Willravel · 05-14-2008, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasereth

Somewhat off topic:

I will never, ever, get in a helicopter. People ask why?? Well let's see: IF IT BREAKS, YOU DIE. If an airplane's engine breaks, you can coast and possibly land. If a car's engine breaks, you coast off to the side of the road. If a boat's engine dies, you just get stuck in the water. If a helicopter's engine breaks, it falls out of the sky and you die. There is no coasting, there is no safety, you're dead. I think it's absurd to get in an aircraft that is suspended in air by a mechanical motor. At least airplanes can fly without an engine, if not slowly towards the ground.

So no submarines then.

*cancels Lasereth's surprise birthday party on the USS Columbia*

Cynthetiq · 05-14-2008, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lasereth

Somewhat off topic:

I will never, ever, get in a helicopter. People ask why?? Well let's see: IF IT BREAKS, YOU DIE. If an airplane's engine breaks, you can coast and possibly land. If a car's engine breaks, you coast off to the side of the road. If a boat's engine dies, you just get stuck in the water. If a helicopter's engine breaks, it falls out of the sky and you die. There is no coasting, there is no safety, you're dead. I think it's absurd to get in an aircraft that is suspended in air by a mechanical motor. At least airplanes can fly without an engine, if not slowly towards the ground.

actually NOT TRUE

Autorotation (helicopter)

Quote:

Autorotation is the state of flight where the main rotor system of a helicopter is being turned by the action of air moving up through the rotor rather than engine power driving the rotor. The term autorotation can be traced back to a period of early development in helicopters between 1915 and 1920 and refers to the rotors turning without the engine.[1]

In normal, powered flight, air is drawn into the main rotor system from above and exhausted downward, but during autorotation, air moves up into the rotor system from below as the helicopter descends. Autorotation is permitted mechanically because of a freewheeling unit, which allows the main rotor to continue turning even if the engine is not running. It is the means by which a helicopter can be landed safely in the event of an engine failure, consequently all helicopters must demonstrate this capability in order to be certified.

video of a helicopter landing in autorotation

ring · 05-14-2008, 08:55 AM

More off topic I 'spose...but hey.
I take helicopter rides whenever I can afford them.
I would be a pilot if I could afford it.
It reminds me so much of what it it is like to have dreams of flying.
(I truly wish, all of you have had at least one of those.)

Anways...Skylab and all that..let us keep ours eyes on the skies, chicken littles.

..

Lasereth · 05-14-2008, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cynthetiq

actually NOT TRUE

Autorotation (helicopter)

video of a helicopter landing in autorotation

Thank you for that peace of mind!!!!!! I guess that explains the few heli crash videos where the copter is descending remarkably slowly even with the engine broken.

Leto · 05-14-2008, 10:26 AM

Here is the latest. The poor soul, the pedestrian on the ground, who was killed was a student at the local college. He was on his way to post a letter to his parents and was wearing headphones. That may explain why he didn't hear the falling helipcopter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Story/National

Crashing copter kills student mailing letter
Pilot and two passengers also die
UNNATI GANDHI and ROD MICKLEBURGH AND ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

May 14, 2008 at 12:41 AM EDT

TORONTO, VANCOUVER AND CRANBROOK, B.C. — At 6 foot 9, and one of the few black residents in Cranbrook, B.C., Isaiah Otieno stood out like few others.

The 23-year-old Kenyan, an international student who arrived in the small community just two years ago to study business at the College of the Rockies, was often the target of small-town racism, but despite that managed to leave a lasting impression as a natural-born leader who was determined to follow in his father's footsteps, a close friend said Tuesday.

In a tragic twist, however, the young man's life came to a sudden end Tuesday afternoon, when a helicopter carrying three people crashed into him as he crossed the street downtown, and dragged him for several metres before exploding in a ball of flames. The pilot and two passengers also died.

The helicopter, which witnesses say had been flying extremely low moments before it plunged to the ground, left a trail of flames and wreckage as it skidded for several metres along the street.

Isaiah Otieno, 23, was a student at the College of the Rockies.

Isaac Hockley, a friend of Mr. Otieno, said the man was walking to the mailbox to post a letter to his parents, who live in Kenya. He was wearing headphones at the time, which might explain why he didn't hear the low-flying vehicle sputtering just 50 metres in the air above him at 1:03 p.m.

Elmer Bautz, who lives just metres from the crash site, said he saw Mr. Otieno walking down 10th Street South, near 14th Avenue, from his window as the helicopter came crashing down.

“If he would have jumped just five feet, he would have missed it,” Mr. Bautz, 63, said.

The helicopter made a couple of circles around a Catholic church before it crashed and burst into flames, said Norm Magee, who was driving to downtown at the time.

“It was on the ground in flames that were two or three houses tall. There were some men who had taken their shirts off, dragging a body away from the helicopter towards the street. They were trying to put the flames out, trying to smother the flames with their shirts.”

Mr. Magee, 60, got out of his car and grabbed a garden hose nearby, but it was too late. Mr. Otieno was already dead.

There was no way anyone could get near the helicopter's door because the flames were so big, Mr. Magee added.

Mr. Otieno came from a political family in Kenya. He was one of 13 siblings, all of whom were sent abroad to study by their treasurer father, Mr. Hockley said.

“He wanted to be just like his dad. He's a natural leader, like his dad. His idea was to see the world, grow as a person and take over for his dad,” he said.

“It obviously wasn't easy for him to live here, being so different in a redneck city like this. But he dealt with it as best he could. He's seen the best kind of people in Canada and he's seen the worst.”

Mr. Hockley said the two became close friends after Mr. Otieno saved him when a knife was pulled on him during a bar fight at Misty's Lounge last year. Mr. Otieno had worked as a bouncer there since the club opened in April.

Misty's manager Shane Berry said Mr. Otieno had come to Canada partly to get some distance from his father's political involvement. “He came here to get away from what was going on [in Kenya]. He was just a really friendly guy.”

Mr. Otieno spent his first Christmas away from his family with Mr. Hockley's in 2006. He was able to fly back last December and see his parents, Mr. Hockley said.

RCMP Corporal Chris Faulkner said he arrived at the crash scene just a few minutes after the accident.

“There was some debris in the street, and the fuel was burning for about half a block. A lot of people saw what happened. They were just dumbfounded,” he said.

Tuesday evening, the curb and sidewalks near the crash were sooty and nearby lawns blackened by the smoke and fire. A white tent covered the rubble, cordoned off by police tape. The deadly scene, however, drew the curious, who took cellphone pictures and stopped to stare.

Cpl. Faulkner said eyewitnesses told him the helicopter, carrying two B.C. Hydro employees, may have been surveying possible routes for hydro lines in a new subdivision under construction nearby. The Bighorn Helicopters chopper had been hired for the flight by B.C. Hydro, and was being flown by one of the company's senior pilots.

A person answering the telephone at Bighorn Helicopters, a flight school based in Cranbrook, said it was one of their choppers that went down but declined to give any further information.

B.C. Hydro CEO Bob Elton said the two employees in the chopper, a Bell 206 Ranger, were on a routine line patrol.

They said in a statement that everyone at the company felt “overwhelming grief” at the news.

“This loss will be felt by all of us at B.C. Hydro and in the communities where they lived and served,” Mr. Elton said.

“I am joined by Hydro employees across the province in expressing my deepest and most sincere condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims of this accident.”

Cpl. Faulkner said all four victims were residents of the town. “It's a pretty sombre day.”

Mr. Otieno is believed to have lived in one of the apartment blocks around 10th Street where the crash took place. “He hadn't lived here that long,” Cpl. Faulkner said.

He said one of those who witnessed the crash made a “heroic effort” to rescue Mr. Otieno by pulling him from the blazing wreckage. “But I'm not sure there was any way he could have survived. It was just karma, fate, bad luck that he was right there when the helicopter crashed.”

Reporter Dean Bassett of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman said his father-in-law was driving down the street when he saw the helicopter come down.

“He said it missed a big ponderosa pine and then it came down. Boom. He pulled the pedestrian from the crash, but he was already dead.”

Two elementary schools were within two blocks of the crash scene.

Bill Yearwood of the Transportation Safety Board said three TSB investigators had begun their investigation of the crash.

With a report from The Canadian Press

echo5delta · 05-14-2008, 11:09 AM

You know, it's just a damn shame, and the definition of 'freak accident'. But one thing I got to grips with a couple of days after arriving in Iraq for the first time - when your number is up, your number is just up, fucking period. I saw and heard of enough examples to confirm that in subsequent months.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

I am sure the surgeon general will put a warning label on all jogging shoes:
"Warning: Death while jogging increases dramatically when smashed by helicopter!"

Augi, I bet you wouldn't have to look too hard to find that label out west, modified to: "Helicopters falling out of the sky contain chemicals and materials known to the state of California to significantly and abruptly decrease your lifespan and/or adversely affect your well-being."

I've ridden around in some seriously old and overworked helos - namely the CH-53 and CH-46 - and it was interesting at times, but never scary. However, last year I rode in one of these things at night, and it was a pretty harrowing experience for a few moments:

Never again if I can avoid it. Swear to God, that was one of my top three scariest moments last year...

The_Jazz · 05-14-2008, 11:12 AM

e5d, you deserve a damn medal for being on the same base as the Osprey, let alone riding on one. If there were any near here, I'd constantly be checking the skies.

echo5delta · 05-14-2008, 01:04 PM

Heh. I'm stationed across the river from the Home of the North Carolina Lawn Dart. They buzz around here constantly, and have since 2004 or so.

It's a solid bird, I guess, maybe just a *little* bigger than a -46 inside. I was one of the first to ride one during its first "combat" deployment to Iraq. But when the pilot does a 100 ft. takeoff roll, yanks back to like, 60 degrees nose up, and all the cargo shifts BACKWARD TOWARDS OUR SEATS... it kinda sucks a little. Moreso when you look back towards the crew chief, standing near the half-open ramp, and he's got a gigantic "Oh, shit" expression on his face as you watch runway stripes zip-zip-zipping by over his shoulder.

Other than that, it's a sweetass ride!

(/threadjack)

dlish · 05-14-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

So no submarines then.

*cancels Lasereth's surprise birthday party on the USS Columbia*

Thats a shame Will.. i had already organised The Kursk Submarine.. u still up for it Laz?

blahblah454 · 05-14-2008, 03:10 PM

*Pretends to be lasereth*

You bet your ass I am!

echo5delta · 05-14-2008, 07:21 PM

If you get on a Kilo-class for more than ten days, you have gigantic balls, and are a bigger and better man than I am.

HAPPY BIRFDAY, LASERETH!!!

MSD · 05-15-2008, 07:19 AM

If I'm going to die young, I want to be "the guy who got hit by a helicopter."

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Jazz

Unless he saw what was happening and ran underneath it on purpose, life insurance will pay. Life insurance always pays unless there's a REALLY good reason not to, and there's usually only one reason - fraud. If you off yourself to give your SO the life insurance, that's defrauding the company. Same if you fake your own death. Beyond that, the actuaries were just wrong and they have to pay out. If you ever compare a life insurance policy to a homeowners policy, you'll see that the life insurance contract is a whole lot shorter and has a whole lot few exclusions. If you die in an accident, no matter how strange or incredible it may be, they're paying off.

If it pays out in almost all cases, how do life insurance companies make money? Are there people who pay more in premiums over their lives than their survivors get paid? All I ever see are ads for multi-hundred-thousand dollar policies for $20 a month.

Cynthetiq · 05-15-2008, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSD

If I'm going to die young, I want to be "the guy who got hit by a helicopter."

If it pays out in almost all cases, how do life insurance companies make money? Are there people who pay more in premiums over their lives than their survivors get paid? All I ever see are ads for multi-hundred-thousand dollar policies for $20 a month.

not many people have life insurance, if they do it's just a term policy, and those generally don't pay out since most people survive the term.

whole life is expensive and while it pays out it is also an investment vehicle for some.

AD&D (accidental death & dismemberment) only applies if you buy it or covered by it via your employer and that also doesn't happen often compared to the premiums.

jazz, please correct my assumptions of what I believe I know and understand of insurance.

BBG · 05-15-2008, 07:23 AM

Thats crazy

The_Jazz · 05-15-2008, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cynthetiq

not many people have life insurance, if they do it's just a term policy, and those generally don't pay out since most people survive the term.

whole life is expensive and while it pays out it is also an investment vehicle for some.

AD&D (accidental death & dismemberment) only applies if you buy it or covered by it via your employer and that also doesn't happen often compared to the premiums.

jazz, please correct my assumptions of what I believe I know and understand of insurance.

No, you've got the basics right.

Term life is basically straight up gambling. The life insurance companies know down to the month how long an average person in your demograpics should live. They're gambling that you won't die before then. And they're going to take your premiums and invest them in as high a yield as they can find. There are folks who paid more in premiums than the survivors get paid, especially if they're not very bright about how they bought their coverage.

Really, the money comes from having lots of people buying. A few of them will die, and the company will have to pay off there, but if they've done their underwriting correctly, that will only be about 50-75% of the premium. They take the remainder and grow it as much as they can. We can talk about reinsurance and make this a lot more complicated, but I bet I've derailed this enough now.

You should recheck your ads. For $20/year, you're usually getting a limit in the tens of thousands of dollars. Usually about $20,000 since that's a minimum used a lot. I have a $1M term policy that I pay about $500/year for.

05-13-2008, 07:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
QuasiMondo Wise-ass Latino Location: Pretoria (Tshwane), RSA	Sometimes, it just ain't your lucky day. __________________ Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer. -From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

05-13-2008, 07:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
smoore Crazy Location: West of Denver	ah, semantics WTF? You knew what he meant. Now I know what you guys mean. FFS, how inane. __________________ smoore

05-13-2008, 07:29 PM	#9 (permalink)
KellyC Comment or else!! Location: Home sweet home	If something falls from the sky and hit someone, we call that person being punished by the heaven/sky/god in our culture. But...RIP to all. __________________ Him: Ok, I have to ask, what do you believe? Me: Shit happens.

05-13-2008, 07:40 PM	#10 (permalink)
Destrox Metal and Rock 4 Life Location: Phoenix	Now... watch the life insurance say its not covered. __________________ You bore me.... next.

05-13-2008, 08:20 PM	#14 (permalink)
shesus Fancy Location: Chicago	I've thought about that. Helicopters scare me. I would never walk under one and get nervous when they are close by. There is a landing spot for life flight helicopters down the street from my parent's house. I would always go inside when I heard one coming. Maybe I have a helicopter phobia. __________________ Whatever did happen to your soul? I heard you sold it Choose Heaven for the weather and Hell for the company

05-13-2008, 07:47 PM	#11 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

05-13-2008, 08:00 PM	#12 (permalink)
blahblah454 Let's put a smile on that face Location: On the road...	Wow, what a harsh way to go. I feel sorry for the guys family for sure. That would be kind of hard to take, husband or whatever is just out for a stroll and a helicopter lands on him. Very brutal.

05-14-2008, 01:07 AM	#17 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	and people say jogging is good for you! HAH!

05-14-2008, 01:31 AM	#19 (permalink)
stevie667 Too Awesome for Aardvarks Location: Angloland	You know what would be really unlucky? It was a Medivac helicopter that crashed outside the hospital on someone running to see their relative who was being flown to hospital. That would suck! The whole thing reminds me of the first episode of Dead Like Me. __________________ Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

05-14-2008, 07:27 AM	#22 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	If this were fraud, it would likely be one of the most elaborate frauds in history.

05-14-2008, 07:33 AM	#23 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Somewhat off topic: I will never, ever, get in a helicopter. People ask why?? Well let's see: IF IT BREAKS, YOU DIE. If an airplane's engine breaks, you can coast and possibly land. If a car's engine breaks, you coast off to the side of the road. If a boat's engine dies, you just get stuck in the water. If a helicopter's engine breaks, it falls out of the sky and you die. There is no coasting, there is no safety, you're dead. I think it's absurd to get in an aircraft that is suspended in air by a mechanical motor. At least airplanes can fly without an engine, if not slowly towards the ground.

05-14-2008, 08:55 AM	#27 (permalink)
ring ░ Location: ❤	More off topic I 'spose...but hey. I take helicopter rides whenever I can afford them. I would be a pilot if I could afford it. It reminds me so much of what it it is like to have dreams of flying. (I truly wish, all of you have had at least one of those.) Anways...Skylab and all that..let us keep ours eyes on the skies, chicken littles. ..

05-14-2008, 10:26 AM	#29 (permalink)
Leto Junkie Location: The Danforth	Here is the latest. The poor soul, the pedestrian on the ground, who was killed was a student at the local college. He was on his way to post a letter to his parents and was wearing headphones. That may explain why he didn't hear the falling helipcopter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Story/National Crashing copter kills student mailing letter Pilot and two passengers also die UNNATI GANDHI and ROD MICKLEBURGH AND ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY From Wednesday's Globe and Mail May 14, 2008 at 12:41 AM EDT TORONTO, VANCOUVER AND CRANBROOK, B.C. — At 6 foot 9, and one of the few black residents in Cranbrook, B.C., Isaiah Otieno stood out like few others. The 23-year-old Kenyan, an international student who arrived in the small community just two years ago to study business at the College of the Rockies, was often the target of small-town racism, but despite that managed to leave a lasting impression as a natural-born leader who was determined to follow in his father's footsteps, a close friend said Tuesday. In a tragic twist, however, the young man's life came to a sudden end Tuesday afternoon, when a helicopter carrying three people crashed into him as he crossed the street downtown, and dragged him for several metres before exploding in a ball of flames. The pilot and two passengers also died. The helicopter, which witnesses say had been flying extremely low moments before it plunged to the ground, left a trail of flames and wreckage as it skidded for several metres along the street. Isaiah Otieno, 23, was a student at the College of the Rockies. Isaac Hockley, a friend of Mr. Otieno, said the man was walking to the mailbox to post a letter to his parents, who live in Kenya. He was wearing headphones at the time, which might explain why he didn't hear the low-flying vehicle sputtering just 50 metres in the air above him at 1:03 p.m. Elmer Bautz, who lives just metres from the crash site, said he saw Mr. Otieno walking down 10th Street South, near 14th Avenue, from his window as the helicopter came crashing down. “If he would have jumped just five feet, he would have missed it,” Mr. Bautz, 63, said. The helicopter made a couple of circles around a Catholic church before it crashed and burst into flames, said Norm Magee, who was driving to downtown at the time. “It was on the ground in flames that were two or three houses tall. There were some men who had taken their shirts off, dragging a body away from the helicopter towards the street. They were trying to put the flames out, trying to smother the flames with their shirts.” Mr. Magee, 60, got out of his car and grabbed a garden hose nearby, but it was too late. Mr. Otieno was already dead. There was no way anyone could get near the helicopter's door because the flames were so big, Mr. Magee added. Mr. Otieno came from a political family in Kenya. He was one of 13 siblings, all of whom were sent abroad to study by their treasurer father, Mr. Hockley said. “He wanted to be just like his dad. He's a natural leader, like his dad. His idea was to see the world, grow as a person and take over for his dad,” he said. “It obviously wasn't easy for him to live here, being so different in a redneck city like this. But he dealt with it as best he could. He's seen the best kind of people in Canada and he's seen the worst.” Mr. Hockley said the two became close friends after Mr. Otieno saved him when a knife was pulled on him during a bar fight at Misty's Lounge last year. Mr. Otieno had worked as a bouncer there since the club opened in April. Misty's manager Shane Berry said Mr. Otieno had come to Canada partly to get some distance from his father's political involvement. “He came here to get away from what was going on [in Kenya]. He was just a really friendly guy.” Mr. Otieno spent his first Christmas away from his family with Mr. Hockley's in 2006. He was able to fly back last December and see his parents, Mr. Hockley said. RCMP Corporal Chris Faulkner said he arrived at the crash scene just a few minutes after the accident. “There was some debris in the street, and the fuel was burning for about half a block. A lot of people saw what happened. They were just dumbfounded,” he said. Tuesday evening, the curb and sidewalks near the crash were sooty and nearby lawns blackened by the smoke and fire. A white tent covered the rubble, cordoned off by police tape. The deadly scene, however, drew the curious, who took cellphone pictures and stopped to stare. Cpl. Faulkner said eyewitnesses told him the helicopter, carrying two B.C. Hydro employees, may have been surveying possible routes for hydro lines in a new subdivision under construction nearby. The Bighorn Helicopters chopper had been hired for the flight by B.C. Hydro, and was being flown by one of the company's senior pilots. A person answering the telephone at Bighorn Helicopters, a flight school based in Cranbrook, said it was one of their choppers that went down but declined to give any further information. B.C. Hydro CEO Bob Elton said the two employees in the chopper, a Bell 206 Ranger, were on a routine line patrol. They said in a statement that everyone at the company felt “overwhelming grief” at the news. “This loss will be felt by all of us at B.C. Hydro and in the communities where they lived and served,” Mr. Elton said. “I am joined by Hydro employees across the province in expressing my deepest and most sincere condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims of this accident.” Cpl. Faulkner said all four victims were residents of the town. “It's a pretty sombre day.” Mr. Otieno is believed to have lived in one of the apartment blocks around 10th Street where the crash took place. “He hadn't lived here that long,” Cpl. Faulkner said. He said one of those who witnessed the crash made a “heroic effort” to rescue Mr. Otieno by pulling him from the blazing wreckage. “But I'm not sure there was any way he could have survived. It was just karma, fate, bad luck that he was right there when the helicopter crashed.” Reporter Dean Bassett of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman said his father-in-law was driving down the street when he saw the helicopter come down. “He said it missed a big ponderosa pine and then it came down. Boom. He pulled the pedestrian from the crash, but he was already dead.” Two elementary schools were within two blocks of the crash scene. Bill Yearwood of the Transportation Safety Board said three TSB investigators had begun their investigation of the crash. With a report from The Canadian Press Last edited by Leto; 05-14-2008 at 10:28 AM..

05-14-2008, 11:12 AM	#31 (permalink)
The_Jazz Asshole Administrator Location: Chicago	e5d, you deserve a damn medal for being on the same base as the Osprey, let alone riding on one. If there were any near here, I'd constantly be checking the skies. __________________ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin "There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush "We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

05-14-2008, 01:04 PM	#32 (permalink)
echo5delta Crazy Location: Swamp Lagoon, North Cackalacky	Heh. I'm stationed across the river from the Home of the North Carolina Lawn Dart. They buzz around here constantly, and have since 2004 or so. It's a solid bird, I guess, maybe just a little bigger than a -46 inside. I was one of the first to ride one during its first "combat" deployment to Iraq. But when the pilot does a 100 ft. takeoff roll, yanks back to like, 60 degrees nose up, and all the cargo shifts BACKWARD TOWARDS OUR SEATS... it kinda sucks a little. Moreso when you look back towards the crew chief, standing near the half-open ramp, and he's got a gigantic "Oh, shit" expression on his face as you watch runway stripes zip-zip-zipping by over his shoulder. Other than that, it's a sweetass ride! (/threadjack) __________________ "Peace" is when nobody's shooting. A "Just Peace" is when we get what we want. - Bill Mauldin Last edited by echo5delta; 05-14-2008 at 01:10 PM..

05-14-2008, 03:10 PM	#34 (permalink)
blahblah454 Let's put a smile on that face Location: On the road...	Pretends to be lasereth You bet your ass I am!

05-14-2008, 07:21 PM	#35 (permalink)
echo5delta Crazy Location: Swamp Lagoon, North Cackalacky	If you get on a Kilo-class for more than ten days, you have gigantic balls, and are a bigger and better man than I am. HAPPY BIRFDAY, LASERETH!!! __________________ "Peace" is when nobody's shooting. A "Just Peace" is when we get what we want. - Bill Mauldin

05-15-2008, 07:23 AM	#38 (permalink)
BBG Upright Location: Arizona	Thats crazy