Impressive piloting

During the rescue of the Selendang Ayu, pilots of an HH-60 Jayhawk skillfully hover above the flight deck of Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley during a bad storm in the Bering Sea. Despite rough seas, strong winds and heavy snowfall the pilots manage to maintain it's position over the rolling and pitching Cutter without colliding into it. Very impressive piloting.

[@aerxx]

Most people will never realize how absolutely amazing this really is.

[@joewatson6033]

They aren't trying to land the helo. There is another helo on the cutter already. They are using the hoist to offload rescued crew members so they can go rescue more. Plus the pilots dont use AFCS in these weather conditions. Just sat through a three hour presentation by the pilots and crewmembers of this rescue.

[@gordonjj]

As I watched video, I attempted to control collective, cyclic, and rudder in my mind. There is NO WAY I COULD HAVE controlled this aircraft. Excellent job!!

[@suzannegarofalo1771]

Listening to the audio book about this rescue mission - SO awesome to see this video! The book is called On The Edge of Survival by Spike Walker. The people who serve in the Coast Guard are beyond amazing! Thank you!

[@briansmobile1]

HOLY COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT BATMAN!

[@uscgdavid]

This may have been mentioned before, but what you don't see in this video very well is also hoists of the rescue basket down to the deck of the Alex Haley (the Coast Guard cutter in the video) which makes this even more impressive. This i believe is also the last video this helicopter was shown in, it crashed later that evening during a later rescue of crewmembers. all CG members survived. if your interested the tail number is CG6020, look it up.

[@KanoeGuru]

Just remember - that pilot is manually matching the pitching and rolling of the ship, while extracting the litter - pretty freakin' impressive.

[@MaritimeSafetySystems]

@Wendigo127 ok well if you are suggesting that the Coast Guard hovers on AP (assuming you mean Auto-Pilot) then it just simply is NOT done. There is just no button to push that will hold the aircraft in a fixed spot over a pitching deck that is moving forward through the water. The pilot in this video IS (without a doubt) controlling the aircraft's altitude, pitch, roll and yaw with manual collective, cyclic, and rudder inputs. He is flying the aircraft - not the computer.

[@cepaasch]

I've been working on these USCG MH-60's for almost 20 years now and never heard of auto hover. The Pilot and Fight Mechanic are working together putting survivors down on the deck of the Haley. Flight Mech tells the Pilot what to do during a hoist and the Pilot does it. It was too rough for them to land on the flight deck.

[@N1259L]

they are lowering victims that they just rescued down to the deck. if you look at about 5 seconds into the video you can see the basket being winched back up into the chopper to lower the next person. That' one damn good helo pilot!

[@KevLawrence34]

I just recently met this pilot. He crashed this same helicopter into the water just a few hours after this video was taken.

[@shannonlinquist2649]

I recall hearing it was from a rogue wave. You remember the tail number by chance?

[@Chiefcinque5]

+Shannon Linquist CG6020

[@kepexor1]

Lt. David Neel

[@diljitsingh3887]

my father was one of the sailors that went missing in that crash..i post this on every selendag ayu rescue video I can...so that I can get a last view of him somewhere or any other news about him..

[@jtomasik]

That was some slick piloting. I flew a bit of fixed wing aircraft. My son just started rotary wing lessons. I sat in an R-44 simulator with him, and I could barely fly the thing straight, much less hover. Helicopters seem to have no directional behavior to them. Hats off to those rotary wing guys. Awesome skills!

[@solomonpilot767]

VERY impressive what a pilot damn good pilot!

[@Watsupwiya]

Like the paint job, suits the jackets................10 out of ten clip

[@tonyossipov]

First, excellent video! Second, no question the pilot deserves credit regardless if the autopilot was on. If he/she was hand flying, then this is some incredible piece of flying. When other Armed Services stand down due to bad weather, that's when the CG goes up! As an active commercial pilot, hats off to these guys for walking out to an aircraft when most of the rest of professional aviation decides to stay in a cozy hotel room with a warm cup of coffee and let the foul weather pass!!

[@MaritimeSafetySystems]

@Wendigo127 He is using AFCS with the RADALT hold off. But the AFCS smooths out the control of the aircraft - it is not a set-it and forget it, plane-flies-itself feature. That smooth control of the aircraft is assisted by AFCS, but it is a function of the pilots skill. What I mean is, if the pilot is not very good, this type of control is impossible - AFCS or not. I've flown hundreds of SAR cases and have well over a thousand hours in the back Jawhawks - THAT is good flying.

[@sparky42]

Air Force vet here , gotta love and respect those coast guard ! I hope they are around if I ever go in the drink.

[@2AMech]

phenomenal piloting!! i'm a crewchief on blackhawks for the army so i know the coordination they had to be going through...but they were doing 10Xs more!! that is very impressive!

[@ScarsonFilms]

Coast Guard saved my life. I WILL NEVER FORGET!!! :)

[@BIXELBOY100]

It's the helicopter designated for each branch. The HH-60 Pavehawk is what you mean. That is the U.S.A.F helicopter. It depends on the aircraft really. Some aircraft have bigger gas storage for longer trips for example.

[@DrumCoversbyBill]

Dude thats mad skill right there! Coast Guard pilots are THE BEST!

[@AirCargoHeavy]

Skillful pilot and a great helicopter, the H-60. Well done!

[@MaritimeSafetySystems]

@Wendigo127 - the USCG has it's own -1 (NATOPS) for all aircraft. Honestly, we just do different work than other branches. Not better, just different.

[@CCWSig]

It's scary how good this guy is. Hats off to you sir

[@Devilock79]

Damn, that was actually pretty impressive. The pilot had very good judgment and spacial awareness. Good thing he's employed to save lives and not take them.

[@sn0le]

The video title is very fitting. That pilot knows his business. :)

[@lordazn]

Go coast guard! you guys are some of the most badass pilots ever!

[@Avilator189]

This ranks among the best displays of pure flying skill that I have ever seen.

[@shakenama]

Not sure if this was CG 6020 as there were 2 H-60's and 1 H65 onsite. During evac of the crew of the Selendang Ayu, CG 6020 encountered a rogue wave, ingested sea water in the turbines and had to ditch. All three crew from CG 6020 did survive the ditching (as they were trained is situations like this), however unfortunately 7 crew members from the ship, including the one in the basket, did not. Google "Selendang Ayu" or check the Wikipedia article.

[@LoveVernors]

What's incredible to me isn't just that he did it. The incredible thing is, he'll go up and do it again the next day. Well done....and all in a day's work for these guys.

[@geover330]

pilot's got some SICK skill!! well done:D nice video friend ;)

[@Mark37251]

man that is friggin amazing work. he matched the ships movements flawlessly. GO COAST GUARD!

[@evsynator]

forget stunt flying.... this is the real stuff ... amazing skill. not just up and down to contend with ... but strong wind as well ... truly good stuff.

[@aetechllc]

They do not pay these heroes enough money for the incredible work that they do day and day out!

[@Bane_Diesel]

Seeing the pilot go up and down perfectly with the ship, I was convinced the chopper was in the water with it. ..lol Greatest wave matching pilot.

[@TrueCourse]

... and please remember those who have given their all that others may live. Thanks for sharing the impressive vid!

[@TheMukau]

Never flown a helicopter before, but wow. Just looking at the torque on those rotors and seeing how much the ship was pitching....bravo!

[@eman626]

Nice to know guys like them will come to save me when in distress.

[@brent07]

Aaah. the Bering Sea. one of the friendliest seas in the world.

[@snowgyre]

I don't care if this is an automatic feature or not, it takes serious balls to hover that close to a ship that is moving unpredictably. This either required the pilots to place ultimate trust in an automatic feature (scary enough in an emergency situation), or required fantastic piloting skills.

[@pilotwave]

that is easily one of the most impressive things i have seen!

[@SM1959]

God bless these guys. Unbelievable piloting at its best

[@Hellionvega]

Impressive, holding the hover and masking the deck like that...very skilled flight crew. God bless.

[@SeaFox10]

Fantastic flying! I guess that's why the pilot is with the coast guard!

[@Vidar2032]

In some advanced helicopters there is a sensor which corrects the altitude in correspondance to a given object - ground or a boat. The same sensors are used to keep the helicopter in a "locked" position in both vertican and horizontal over ground - in case of picking up people in difficult terrain or other demanded precision maneuvers.

[@Croopskate]

@ribblest it's called ground effect. rotorwash shooting downwards pushes the heli upwards when it comes closer to the landing platform. that's why it rolls with the sea, but with a slight delay. i also don't think he'd switch off any helpful equipment 'for fun', as this is an extremely stressful situation! :)

[@ConspiracyToRiot]

these guys are heroes..and I would hate to trivialize what they do, they have saved the lives of freinds of mine..and spent time in a blizzard searching for freinds I have lost to the sea...these guys don't get enough credit or thanks..no one thinks of the coasties till they need em...real heroes out there everyday..if you pass one on the street thank em..soldiers ain't the only heroes...

[@cf80to01]

The SeaHawk is one of the most automated helicopters in the air. The pilot can, literally at the push of a button, place the aircraft into a hover. These new pilots are skilled, but the old Seaking pilots were SKILLED.

[@chfar072281]

Those are true skills!! That is extemely difficult to perform. Way to go CG!

[@TheLantyJarvis]

Sweet Jerusalem this Pilot is skilled. Mad respect to all those guys.

[@bittemeinrammstein]

Damn! :O Recommend that guy for a medal!

[@ArchLITE0]

They better be paying that pilot the big bucks! Incredible skill.

[@armystrong8808]

its truly amazing that the boat captain had to make his ship go up and down while the helicopter pilot was CLEARLY under the influence and could not maintain a steady altitude...the nerve of some people... >:( no but in all honesty i have the utmost respect for pilots like these :D

[@biggee316]

WHOA! that guy is good! to keep the craft even with the ship like that as it bobs up and down in high seas... much respect!

[@Ancient12Tree]

I think what he does is keep steady vertically above the highest point the ship reaches than adapts horizontically . dangerous stuff for sure. great job

[@JndBStudios]

What amazes me is how fast that pilot can make his heli go upwards, and just about at the same distance from the pad the whole time.

[@nos.ad.nostrum]

dude, he is going up and down with the ship.... and the pilot is the one who did that, with the collective.

[@BikerDarren24]

If i had a hat on, I would take it off to those pilots :) Great job

[@Data1701E]

Ok, I am no one special, I have only had one helo lesson. I do love helos and love watching them. But I gotta say, I am VERY impressed. Being able to hover, plus keeping the altitude pretty close to steady in relation to the boat, while it rides the waves, VERY nice.!!!

[@KryderExploration]

Here comes the deck, up we go, there goes the deck, down we go... This guy is awesome!

[@d260]

they already have something similar. It's called a bear trap. a helicopter hovers over the deck while lowering a cable that attaches to the bear trap, pilots apply power to create tension on the line, and the helicopter is winched onto the flight deck. it allows helicopters to land on boat during heavy seas.

[@BigSailorRobT]

@JndBStudios That's because the aircraft has a doppler nav radar onboard. It's used to control hovers & approaches. I've been in worse seas than that and helped land helicopters on deck that didn't have modern avionics.

[@enisylo]

You may have been thinking of the Bering Straight, which is like a water border between the USA and Russia (and what was the USSR). In fact, during the Cold War it was named the 'Ice Curtain', a play on the word 'Iron Curtain'. Hope this helped.

[@MaritimeSafetySystems]

@Wendigo127 We use RADALT hold on approach to the water and in hovering over the open water, but NEVER over a vessel. In fact, the checklist for approach to a vessel includes the phrase RADALT Hold - Off. Keeping it on over a vessel can ruin your day when the radar gets confused between water and deck and adds and drops altitude as you cross the plane of the deck. And airspeed hold into gusting wind? Just not possible. No big deal, you were just mistaken.- my YT page has a link to a bio

[@sfr396]

Evidence that Coasties are some of the braviest s.o.b.s out there. SEMPER PARATUS!!!

[@Calgar88]

Damn...that pilot got some mad skills!

[@trevorpom]

Awesome skills, wish I could fly like that. Hats off to the crew.

[@pegati1]

THUMBS UP!! one helluva pilot, YOUR SERVING YOUR COUNTRY WELL!

[@Vindskera]

I'm gonna try to get in the Coast Guard Academy and then into pilot school for this epicness :D

[@robdom3]

@codynieman a NCO is not an officer, they are enlisted. In the USCG or Navy they are petty officers (E-4 and above) Officers are (O-1 and above). Im not sure how the other branches do it.

[@marinetodd06]

you're right, because the engines make inputs automatically to keep them in sync, but pretty sure you're wrong about the second part. researching it now, but sure that there is a system integrated on the hh-60's that allow the aircraft to hover automatically with the rolling waves. sure i've read about it before....works a lot like bar alt. except continually takes readings about the changing "altitude" allowing the aircraft auto hover over the rolling waves

[@mrterabyte]

that is some sweet piloting there matey :)

[@mtnbikr4u]

...whoever is in it. He notifies the pilot of his drift, mostly in inches even, and of the ships movenments. Nobody in the bird can afford any hesitation or distraction. I'm a search and resue crew chief, and i promise you, i have never done anything more physically or mentally exhausting in my entire career in the marine corps or in my life. that being said, i'd gladly do it for he rest of my life before spending one day doing what the pilots do 365 days a year.

[@angelisreal]

I've gotta hand it tyo the pilot, that is very impressive flying indeed. And I give props to the people that know what is and ISN'T real. The helis do have similar features that airplanes have and like the airplanes, they only work in certain conditions. The AP/AH are only for non-emergency and non-rescue purposes only. They might use it to get there faster but in a case like this one, it's hands only, no assistance from the computer at all.

[@IronFox102]

I had no idea the black hawk (or do they call them sea-hawks?) was that responsive. That's crazy amazing piloting work if i've ever seen it. 4 years of army service so far and i've never seen flying like that!

[@daverj2009]

Amazing. Simply amazing.

[@Sub_Cruce_Candida]

Excellent Well coordinated, skilled reading of the hydraulics of the ship, the wake and sustainable roll.

[@cepaasch]

@ Crazy, When they land on a ship, or on land, the pilot can bottom the collective (the left stick) which creates SOME negative lift. It can help stabilize an aircraft to the deck but it isn't really a lot of lift. What that does is makes the rotor blades pitch down slightly and push the aircraft down.

[@MightyMorphinMatt]

Gotta love the Coasties. They dont get enough credit.

[@benjyboba]

For those that have never flown a real helicopter, its not as simple as up and down. Everytime you go up, you have to adjust your pedals to keep it straight and same when you come down. I fly a robinson r22 (still learning), I've done crosswind slope landings and its very diffiuclt, compaired to what one may think. I think everyone who considers flying a helicopter should take a trial lesson. They are a great challenge and fun.

[@Skyerzen]

what a gorgeous machine! and what a show of skill!

[@zbenta]

Kudos, these guys are real heroes.

[@Horatz]

wow :-O absolutely amazing pilot skills

[@thunderhorse64]

i must give that man his props he deserves em

[@florsuperbelg]

That pilot sure knows what he's doing ^^

[@onceANexile]

As a medic on board UH-1Ds, some of my pilots were Vetnam dust-off warrant officers. You should have seen what they would do.

[@rhysgareth16]

good pilot!!! been on this chopper in the RAF squad!

[@ChrizRockster]

Incredible pilot skill!

[@Farismaster1]

this is why the coast guard is so reliable MA FAVORITE HELICOPTER IN FAVORITE COLORS

[@Pumanic]

How the heck did I come from "duckling hatches" to this? :S weird recomended list, takes you to places in youtube you never thought of going.

[@taritata]

great vid indeed ! Congrats to the pilot' skills He moves up and down with the boat ! Nice control.

[@dinmagic]

Yeah, pilot does get some help off the RA, it measures altitude above the terrain presently beneath an aircraft or spacecraft. This type of altimeter provides the distance between the plane and the ground directly below it, as opposed to a barometric altimeter which provides the distance above a pre-determined datum, usually sea level. Without it, it would be much more difficult to fly in this situation.

[@cubleycat]

thats insane, what a pilot :0)

[@MaritimeSafetySystems]

@Wendigo127 The new MH-60T Jayhawk is glass - this video is of a 60J (similar to your Bravo)

[@DenisHelicopters]

That's no autopilot, that's skilled pilot!!!

[@Shak333k]

This pilot is awesome!

[@scottyman78]

wow, that guy's got mad skills. wish i could do that..

[@Seaking8959]

Awesome piloting!

[@Wendigo127]

@h2orsq It doesnt matter how personal the case is. He is obviously using AFCS for that hover you can ask any other H-60 pilot and they will tell you th same thing.

[@Felaris]

I was trying to figure out what was so impressive. Didn't notice the mountains in the background moving. Then it hit me. THE FUCKING SHIPS MOVING... Awesome pilot.