Helicopter drops Malibu
 

I'm surprised this story hasn't been picked up. Unfortunately I have only found a German version of the story but if I find an English one, I'll post it.


http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,515807,00.html


basically, in the area of Coburg, Germany, a Czech helicopter was to transport a Piper Malibu from Coburg to Straubing. Shortly after take-off, it's assumed that one of the cables broke, causing the plane to drop to the ground, with damages of about 1.5 million €. It just barely missed buildings on the ground, no one was injured.


There are a couple of pictures of what once was a Malibu.. only a mass of metal now. :(
Westy

A friend of mine, a Munich flight information controller was working the undersling helicopter just prior to the incident.
The chopper was proceeding at 500ft in poor weather conditions, high gusting winds, and made a precautionary landing at Coburg just prior to the load being dropped. Maybe he should have stayed put!!