No myth here, true, true, true and one damn good story.
The early 90's in the Gulf Of St. Lawerence, (Canadian East Coast) two rival Newfoundland companies where conducting flights to the pack ice to observe the seal herd. Both pilots knew each other quite well and where good friends.
Both aircraft landed on the sea ice without difficulty and after some time the pilot of Company A decides that he will go for a little stroll as the ice seems very stable this day. The pilot of Company B aircraft decides that he is in no mood to roam with the animals and will stay in the aircraft and do what pilots do best (day dream about making more money). Shortly thereafter he notice his aircraft is moving....alarmingly...the ice is rafting all around him...he fires up his machine and moves it to a safer spot a few hundred feet away. On landing he observes that company A's pilot is not going to make it back to his aircraft in time and now he is faced with the a terrible choice. Does he sit in his machine and watch as his friends (the other companies aircraft is lost in the ocean) or does he run and save it. ........
He did what most of us would do I think...he leaves his machine running at idle (frictions bound tighter then Tobies Ar$e) and runs over and fires up his friends machine. Job well done...........
Until he is just settling his new ac on the ice when his machine flops over to a 30 degree angle....slowly slowly slowly it rolls rolls rolls .....ting...tailrotor gone....whack.... mainrotor gone.....scream...engine on the way out.
All this why his new (best)friend is patting him on the back and telling him to "get out of my seat, and by the way, need a lift home?!?!"
Well that just about ended a bad day..... until, Company C, also working close by with a medium, where contracted to sling our slightly damaged and very repairable Longranger back to the mainland.
As our pilot in question sits on land waiting for his broken ride to be landed he hears the unmistakable blade slap of the 205.
Yet, as it draws closer he sees no load, running to the machine thinking that they are in for more fuel he is told by the medium pilot that the aircraft is "over the ice" the pilot in questions says "you mean my aircraft is on the ice" "no no" responds the 205 guy "I mean your aircraft is over the ice,as in a bit over here and a bit over there, we bunched it off"
The rather terrible side to the story is Comapny B fired our pilot for the incident, the not so terrible side is Company A hired him the next day and now he is there CP who answers to the new DFO, well you can guess who that is?!?!
[ 06 September 2001: Message edited by: Newfie Driver ]