[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUtyUTLeW1g[/youtube]
Holy shit is right. I’m no pilot, so I won’t speculate on what went on in that video except to say that it went wrong. There isn’t much information posted with the video, but the video’s title says that this happened in Afghanistan. The terrain looks about right for north eastern Afghanistan and there are a pair of guys in the frame dressed appropriately for that region , so I’ll give it a pass on the sniff test.
Pay attention after the initial bounce. The debris, smoke and calamity partially obscured the view of the helicopter gaining a little altitude before pinwheeling and crashing. Hard.
The Youtube poster says there were no injuries. If there’s anything to this story, I’m sure we will see some reporting on this from Army Times in short order. While there may be extenuating circumstances (equipment malfunction, weather, yada, yada…) it’s hard not to wonder (though I said I wouldn’t) if this was an example of the often-contemplated-but-seldom-performed, and even more rarely photographed, aerobatic maneuver called “The Career Ender”.
