Fuel for the fire taken from the Skydivers Forum:
Quote:
#1
"He was just doing what he always did, everybody knew it, including the photographer trying to get "The Shot". As I understand it he requested and was denied permission to take pictures from there.
That being the case, he should not have been there and was in fact needlessly endangering the passengers and crew of the helicopter, to get the photo he wanted."
#2
"I have seen many videos of Rod fly and he is an excellent pilot. As a pilot myself with an airshow waiver and lots of time flying very close to the ground, I found nothing unsafe or dangerous about Rod's decisions. He always had a ton of airspeed, giving him many outs. Yes, he came close to trees and other organic things (not illegal) but he did so on a steady, planing trajectory not flying right up to a tree and pulling at the last minute."
#3
"Rod is an awesome pilot. What has been said about his flying skills has been grossly understated. I have flown with him and would fly with him anyday in any circumstance. The military feels the same way. That's why they use him.
The fact is, Rod's type of flying is not the relevent point here. The relevent point is that a spectator, defied the ground crew, took it upon himself to sneak into the corn (for the chance at the picture of a lifetime), and stepped out in front of the helio. There is no difference between that and a pedestrian who has stepped out from between parked vehicles into oncoming traffic and got hit.
Even if the blades hadn't of hit the guy, he could have gotten hit by the body of the helio or by a skid.
He stepped out in front of a moving vehicle and he got hit. Period.
It was an unfortunate accident and could have been avoided if the guy would have followed the rules laid out before him.
I simply suggest that before you go mouthing off, anonymously I might add, stop and get the facts first. The FAA did. Rod would not have been allowed to fly the next day otherwise."
Unquote.
Last edited by Steve76; 14th September 2002 at 04:57.