Rocks thrown at HEMS

[JerryN]

This video shows a Dutch HEMS ready for take-off at an incident scene in Amsterdam.
After about 20 seconds or so, a bystander grabs something from the ground and hurls it towards the helo, according to the press it was a sizable rock. At least a dozen people are standing nearby, nobody lifts a finger.

Traumahelikopter stijgt op | Video - Zie.NL (http://www.zie.nl/videos/traumahelikopter-stijgt-op/m1bzt43fxd6x)

Here in Holland, we are by now used to the fact that ambulance personel, bus drivers and train drivers are bullied, molested, threatened etc (inasmuch that this is at least a weekly occurrence, if not almost daily). This one, however, is new to me. It's also the bloody limit..... I *am* ashamed to live in a country where this is possible and where no action is taken to further prevent these incidents.

Here's a shout out to all the Dutch HEMS crew. You guys are the best helo flyers we have. And as challenging your task often is (I've seen lifeliners put into some hairy landing spots), it seems you also now have to deal with the lowest of lowlifes this country has to offer.

[alouette]

A former friend asked me once why a helicopter flew so low above the residential area where he lived and landed at the hospital nearby... duh...should be a no brainer. However, in the same breath he told me not to fly too low because otherwise he would shoot me down. That putana was serious. :mad:

Oddly enough when chaos goes through the roof everyone screams and yells for choppers. When they are not needed most of the public loaths them.

[scooter boy]

Another scenario - while the crew are preoccupied running through checks and resuscitating the casualty, the rock thrown by the cretin hits the rotor disc or tail rotor which fails on climbout and all aboard are killed (and a few on the ground for good measure).

This idiot "hoodie" in the light blue coat should receive a custodial sentence :=for endangering the lives of the helicopter crew and passengers. Alternatively his testicles could be slowly advanced into the rotor disc of a Flymo - that would teach him about the effect of foreign objects on rotors :\ (or scrota in this case!) This is worse than shining a laser in the pilot's eyes in my opinion (some pond life scumbags were convicted and sent down in the UK recently).

I'm pretty sure the local cops could track this stupid kid down if they wanted to. The CCTV evidence is damning.

Sadly stupid people abound in most countries, not just Holland.

SB

[Revolutionary]

I know where this kid lives: in the council flat (section 8 housing for us Yanks) seen in the background. I also recognize his rotten attitude. Every big city in Holland is plagued by the phenomenon of "hangjongeren" -a typically Dutch word, roughly translated as "juvenile loafers"; groups of (mostly Moroccan) kids who terrorize their neighborhoods.

To be sure, every country has their teenage miscreants (we have our gangs, armed not with rocks but with automatic rifles) but the Dutch are (or used to be) especially permissive of this type of behavior -a holdover of the idealistic liberal illusion of the eighties that a large influx of immigrants would somehow enrich Dutch society -it hasn't.

[JerryN]

No argument there from this dutch guy, that's for sure.

Anyway, the good news is that the operator of this helicopter has filed a complaint at the local police (and crimes against aircraft are very severe here in Holland).

I hope they catch this kid.

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Sadly not unique to Holland - a gentleman who's now the Chief Pilot of a major EMS provider here in the UK had to leave his heli on the ground in Yorkshire a few years ago after it was hit by chav-propelled debris.

[peterprobe]

Can we now start arming our EMS helis.........Apache would be great but I will probably prefer a well armed Lynx complete with door gunner, who could then get out and put his squaddie sat night NAAFI fighting head on if there are two many civvies in the line of fire. Health and safety etc etc :ok:

[Winch-control]

Heading towards NI pre 1996! Maybe lessons already learned can be re invoked?

[SASless]

Many years ago in the wilds of Iran.....landed at a village in an Alouette III.

As we were revving up to take off....from way back of the crowd came a rock thrown by a young Iranian lad.

There was divine intervention that day....as I sat there watching and unable to do anything but flinch...the rock hit the tip end of a rotor blade....and like a Babe Ruth home run over the center field fence.....it went right straight back and smote that rock chunker square on the forehead!

It whizzed by the crowd so fast they never even saw it....but it KO'd that dumbass like magic!

As we flying the police that day, we shut down and explained to them what happened.

They proceeded to discuss the matter with the young lad and added a few more knots and bruises in the process.

Yes....helicopter flying has its good days!

[DennisK]

'Twas in March 2002, when I found myself flying the 'Little Bird' MD500 storyship as number two to the wonderful American film pilot, Bob Zee. The location was Sidi Massou in Morocco for Ridley Scott's 'Black Hawk Down.' Gerry Grayson was flying the camera ship.

Holding a 175 ft HOGE in station with Bob Z hovering below at 50ft, I looked down to see a crowd of kids chucking rocks at Bob's 500. Security was called and the kids dispersed.

Next day as we repeated the shot, I noticed the kids had returned ... but this time armed with a catapult made from a lorry inner tube. Before I could transmit, I heard Bob call out, 'I'm hit,' and was concerned to see his 500 descending in a starboard spin. A lucky or a good shot had impacted Bob's T/R but with his experience, he was able to cushion the landing without further damage or casualties. The T/R was destroyed.

We managed to extricate Bob by swapping my T/R assembly and flying him out to nearby Sale Airfield, going back later to collect my machine. The culprit wasn't traced, but in that environment, I doubt if an effort was made anyway. I couldn't see the offending kid owning up except to his mates when he got back to school.

Anyone on the shoot know if the incident was caught on camera?

Safe flying to all, Dennis K.

[BigMike]

No problem...

http://www.helitorque.com/albums/bell_cockpits/aaa.sized.jpg

[RVDT]

Klootzak? (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=klootzak)

[Tmbstory]

I am sure if you asked Air Nugini crews from the Dash 7 days about their experiences at Tari, in the southern highlands of PNG, it will add to these stories.

Tmb

[SASless]

Might as well be most any pickup cab in my part of the country....especially here of late!

[helispeediii]

nice to hear from you den are you still flying kind regards cs

[DennisK]

Yup Chris,
Still in the frame, but the AD thingy is slowing me down. Just doing a few selected PPL's mainly at SHM. PM when you get a mo'
DRK