Oakland Skycrane HVAC Lift; Drops Load @

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

There was a rigging failure. You can't really see it very well from the angle in this video, but in other videos of this incident, you can see the helicopter suddenly pitch forward and the tail rise up. Half a second later, the operator releases the load and it drops. Something clearly broke, causing the load to be unstable, and the operator (correctly) released the load to protect the helicopter.

[@PI4YOU]

Good observation. Watching and focusing only on parts of the helicopter, it appears the helicopter was buffetted by cross wind just before the tail movement. We can only speculate but the flight crew surely felt something. Some men on the ground first went to inspect the rigging connection and just imagine if the cargo had landed on the rear of the trailer.

[@TDQ_Gaming]

@@fubar4fpv Ya, frame by frame, the load is stable and rigging all goes slack at the same time. Was released or something broke on the helicopter side of the lift.

[@storytimewithunclekumaran5004]

@@TDQ_Gaming all rigging looked intact right up to tat triangle shaped piece that went down with the rigging.. Whether intentional or accidental the load was released.. lucky it wasnt from a higher height. Has the N.T.S.B. released a findings ob this accident.. Amazing al this footage was shot.. trying to pay attention for a half hour in case some 1 second event happens and it did..

[@mustangspitfire6835]

And their lives.

[@hobbyguy79]

Almost looks like the tag lines on the front got hooked on something

[@toddhomman2569]

I was one of the last 93P (15B), Flight Ops Spec, to dispatch the Skycranes in the military. And I was the last to dispatch Isabell (probably the most "famous") on her final official duty in '93. I have a lot of great memories of her and her sisters. Probably the best memory was "Operation Breakthrough", saving the whales. I followed her during her post-military career in OR, WA, CA, etc, and was THRILLED to learn (2012) that she would be returning to AK to become a standing monument at FT Rich/Elmendorf for ALL those who flew and maintained her and those who benefited from her and her sisters during their careers. Will find my sig inside the left side door.

[@brendanwood1540]

Saving the whales from what?

[@toddhomman2569]

@@brendanwood1540 Research "Operation Breakthrough whales"

[@mackfisher4487]

I saw them Nam, I can't imagine what the operating cost per hour is, probably makes the operating cost of a 747 seems like a Cessna in comparison.

[@bradleymorris8875]

One of these is the gate at a museum. I can’t remember where but it is.

[@irvan36mm]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Breakthrough

[@9531-d7w]

I was a Union Rigger for 40 years. Helicopter lifts were by far the most dangerous things we did. We knew the pilot had that bailout button if he was in danger of losing the helicopter. You never stayed under that kind of load and always had an escape route when setting anything in case of that bailout.

[@captaintoyota3171]

YES YES helicopter or not, also NEVER take engineers word at face value. I also work in large scale commercial. Had a 70k lbs formwork dancefloor fall above my head due to "loads worked on paper". Yeah static perfect loads not real world loads

[@The_Original_forresttrump]

One of your union brothers screwed up.

[@9531-d7w]

@@The_Original_forresttrump A scab and a Trump supporter all rolled up into one, you must be a hit at the local bar.

[@fw1421]

Amazing they have been able to keep this amazing chopper operational for so many decades. The Skycrane was first flown in the early 60’s as I recall,I built a Revel model of one when I was a kid.

[@aerialcat1]

Erickson Inc. purchased the manufacturing rights for the S-64 from Sikorsky and is still making them.

[@fw1421]

@@aerialcat1 🙀🙀🙀👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 well,I guess it makes sense,there isn’t any other helicopter made in the US that can lift as much weight as the Skycrane. Great copter.

[@imageeknotanerd9897]

I had the pleasure of meeting some of the Siller crew and seeing one of their Skycranes up close in 2021. The one I got to see in person was N4037S, which at the time was (probably still is) configured for firefighting. They told me the aircraft was purchased by Siller directly from Sikorsky in 1977.

[@scottstrang1583]

Weren’t they originally called Sikorsky Sky Cranes?

[@pcsilveirasilveira4326]

I had one from revel kit too in Brazil. Thanks to remember me.❤

[@johngligo4049]

Ever since seeing a Skycrane helicopter for the first time, I've come to love what they do! They are such a pleasure to watch at work! Definitely my favorite helicopter!!

[@glynnjacobs9602]

Saw my first one in 1970 at Ft. Hood (along with all the other helicopter types there!). In 71', I saw one in Birmingham lifting a bulldozer up on a hill top. I must have built five or six of the Revell models, including the one with the square record that had the helicopter sounds on it. Great times! Glad to see them still flying!

[@MichaelBurke-f2p]

All helicopters are my favorite one!

[@beefeekeefee]

Got the chance to watch a helicopter logging crew working in steep terrain several years ago. It was a Chinook. The chopper was in constant motion dropping off loads of logs, picking up bundles of rigging to deliver to one load site then picking up another load at a second load site the doing it all over again in reverse order. Only stopped to refuel. Also, the pilot never just hovered while the crew was securing a load, instead rocking side to side. I was told that if the load suddenly shifted and pulled him downward unexpectedly it would take too long to correct using the collective controls so he maintained nearly full vertical thrust and rocked the craft side to side in place to bleed thrust and maintain position. One of the coolest things I have seen.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

How fast was it rocking? The climb rate at full pitch on those blades with no load, the ground crews would never get the load attached. Maybe full power on the turbines and speed on the hubs, but with the blades set to always stay in climb, ready to snap up to full pitch instantly, then rock slowly to bleed off just enough of the positive climb.

[@beefeekeefee]

Fairly rapidly, say about a second and a half for each cycle. As soon as the crew signaled the load was secure and they were out of the way the oscillations stopped and the copter went up. There was sufficient slack in the cable attached to the rigging that the copter could fluctuate a bit up and down and laterally without interfering with the crew. So the helicopter wasn't motionless as in a hover, but while it was moving it was in a fairly consistent location. You may be right about turbine and hub settings. I just know the guy told us they were very aware of the danger of being pulled into the hillside if the load became unstable.@@PiDsPagePrototypes

[@kevinpenner7125]

I cant imagine how exhausted that pilot would have been.

[@Freq412]

A comment said that the cable snapped. But at 13:10 to 13:13 I see an intact "A" frame falling away from some unseen attachment point. There was no NTSB report for this Skycrane on that day and the Aviation Safety Network only states the initial facts from that date but nothing more. Surely there are a number of lawsuits involved. For those that think it was an overload, I say this: There is probably a calibrated load cell on the assembly to measure the force on the rigging. The pilots and entire team must have assured the load weight and other critical factors. And the aircraft itself has torque gages and TOT gages for the engines and transmission. Run those up to (or close to) their limits (considering the temp and winds for the day) and they will tell you if you about to exceed the aircraft's capability. No pilot would exceed those limitations and continue to pull the load off the ground. Certainly this would be identified even before the load came off the pavement (in case of mistaken weight calculations or specs). For those thinking it was VRS or LTE, I say this: Nope. Either of those would have resulted in wild gyrations of the helicopter, visible to all.

[@johnnyb8629]

Done countless crane picks in my time, and this is why you never walk under the load. Sometimes its hard to get out of the way on chaotic roof picks but you need to stay clear. I also am not a fan of piling covers and doors on top of old units when removing them from roof, just never know if a gust of wind or something is going to send a piece of sheet metal flying like a guillotine.

[@randallstewart8487]

Exactly,you wouldnt want anything unsecured under that rotor wash!

[@Wheelo40]

Enjoyed the comments of people actually involved in operations of this machine. Since I was a kid I’ve always thought they were the coolest.

[@seansasser2575]

Oh the irony. The building they are trying to lift the load on is the California State Building and the main office for CalOSHA. The federal OSHA office is just a half block away.

[@GordonSturrock]

omg LOL

[@savagesteve5894]

Load was deliberately dropped when pilot was notified Gavin Newson was rigging the photo op

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

There is a level of irony to that which can not be understated.

[@MrBigShotFancyPants]

No click bait. Appreciate that. Others lose me for good- fool me once .... thing. I'll be back

[@CruceEntertainment]

You are true American patriot

[@michaelogden5958]

The guy sitting "backwards" and below the cockpit - 8:12 or so - is really the star of the Skycrane show. 🙂

[@nicholasmohr1619]

I work at airport MWA (Marion, IL) and this tail number is in the corporate hangar right now and it has been for about a month. I’ve never seen it fly but it is amazing seeing this in person. They want to base it here which would be awesome. Not everyone can say they have a based skycrane.

[@rael5469]

That's amazing video at 8:35 or so. You can clearly see the observer in the back and just beyond him the pilot. Totally fascinating how they work together.

[@operator0]

He's more than an observer. That guy is also a pilot and has limited flight controls to position the helo while doing these lifts.

[@kevinpenner7125]

Thats team work at its finest.

[@rael5469]

@@paulbuckner375n Amazing. That must really take some getting used to. I wonder if they analyze the drop incident to see who's going to pay the damages?

[@denizyazici5290]

I remember the Erickson Air Crane “Olga” doing the top can air lifts on the top portion of the CN Tower in Toronto back in the mid-1970s. That helicopter was the same as the one in this video. There’s a video of the helicopter sky lifts and topping out of the tower on KZbin.

[@jdrosner1]

In 1984 I watched a Skycrane attempt to lift an a-frame cabin measuring approx. 24'x24' and 20' high at the peak. The attachment points were at floor level. After 10 seconds the rotor wash caused the cabin to oscillate in a pendulum movement. it gradually increased in the next minute until the operator set it back on the ground. I don't remember how they moved it after that.

[@flymachine]

My brother worked for a company that specialised in Heli lifts of oversize loads and he took me out once, it’s an incredibly intricate and complex process

[@John-wm6fg]

Seems to me the pilot has a specialized ass cheek foam seat to keep his butt cheeks from welding together from the stress alone !!! All that back blow wind off these buildings alone would make these lifts terrifying I would imagine !!!

[@raycatlin3554]

" Flying crane operator " , " Aerial crane ' , Anything But ' typical ' = routine. Oh the variables . . . salute to brother , thanks for the insight , 👍 Good Health to you ALL. 💪 🦺

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Watching the traffic light bouncing about in the prop wash, makes the pilots station-keeping impressive while the loads are being attached - that air coming off the blades is causing it's own winds and turbulence between the buildings.

[@rty1955]

I recorded a skycrane hoising a full trailer of VERY expensive microwave equipment placed ontop of a hospital for a cable company. Seeing the rotor blades bending as i was on the roof as it rose parallel to my location was amazing. Then it got overhead and the rotor wash was flinging roof pebbles like bb's.

[@tvtechnicaldirector]

I’d love to see that video!

[@bobsch-gd6ze]

the downdraft can/does reach speeds of 100mph

[@randallstewart8487]

Yes,heavy lift helicopters move a lot of air through their blades when lifting heavy loads!

[@ron6892]

Years ago I lifted a massive glass board room table to the Top of an office tower in DT Edmonton Alberta it was the offices of Peter Pocklington then owner of the Edmonton oilers before the lift I asked a reporter covering the story if I was going to be on the front page, he dryly said “ only If I drop it and it lands on somebody”

[@danrathburn4265]

Good to find this video. I worked as a mechanic, logging, fires, and construction, for Siller Bros back in early 90s. 🙂4035 was green then.

[@John-wm6fg]

As they say , your only Green till your Gray !!! Much Respect !!!

[@portnuefflyer]

Long time fixed wing pilot AND crane operator here. I can relate to this in many ways...., none of them good! Cables are inspected regularly, and their breaking strength is 5 to 7 (can't remember) times their load rating, and you can bet on a pick like this they were conservative in their rigging approach. I don 't know anything about how the release works, but I doubt it just "accidentally" opened...., no more than any cables "just broke", my best guess to this screwup would be a engine warning light or other indication of something about to go very wrong, and if so the pilot was justified in dropping the load. What I found a bit hard to believe was the passerby car traffic, relatively close but not near far enough if things had really gone bad!

[@edschultheis9537]

As a 35-year mechanical design engineer and former aerospace engineer for the US Navy, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, I think that a wider perimeter should have been evacuated. If the helicopter had crashed, numerous people could have been hurt or killed. I also think that the load was likely intentionally dropped, perhaps due to some sort of perceived helicopter warning or malfunction. They ruined one load. But if the load and the helicopter crashed, the costs in lives and dollars could be huge.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Watch the load and then the Heli right before the drop - the load swings about and then the Heli rocks side to side following it - I'd expect it's a safety system cutting in and dropping the load to keep the Heli in the air.

[@barrykochverts4149]

Yes Those cars in the foreground and the children were doubtlessly farther from ground zero than they looked, but one could certainly imagine that crane doing a cartwheel right over them if the conditions were a perfect storm

[@ronsullivan132]

Those movements were miniscule in the scope of things. The pitch up was the spring back of the sudden release of the load. And the helio loitered there for 30 seconds or so after the load dropped, so I doubt it was any mechanical/engine warning. I would have been out of there in an instant if that was the case. And yes I am a pilot, just not helio.@@PiDsPagePrototypes

[@johnamick5985]

I have been involved in a few lifts and I love it

[@luism.raposo5138]

In person that helicopter is BIG!. I worked for a roofing company that used the same helicopter to take out a big A/C unit on a roof I worked on in Mt View California. Much respect to who fly these helicopters. Mucho Grande helicopter. 🚁

[@benjaminvance1866]

"Cooling Tower for Sale. New, slight shipping damage"

[@sanfranciscobay]

Save 50% off New Prices. No Helicopter Delivery.

[@ftmt9568]

I know a scrap guy with a pickup truck that can be there in 20 minutes to clean that up and have that street open in no time😂

[@ssaraccoii]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@Javelina_Poppers]

Only dropped once.

[@PH-md8xp]

Open box sale. Minor superficial damage.

[@andrewfischer556]

wow ! thanks for the great video. I hope nobody got hurt from the drop.

[@aeroscout8409]

Awesome close up shots of the lift manager.....

[@speede541]

Ah! Thank you! We were calling him the "crane operator" but I knew that couldn't be correct.

[@sgtstop]

Having spoken to the pilot of this load (my Brother-in-law), it was equipment failure (simplified explanation was the hook malfunctioned and opened up) that caused the load to drop.

[@williamblake8650]

Did they finish tge job or call it a day?

[@mackfisher4487]

In Nam saw the Sikorsky S-64 recovering down aircraft impressive. I wood from time to time have to use the Chinook or rather "shit hook" to move equipment to fire basis the static electric shock one received when connecting a cable to the chopper was like grabbing hold of a spark plug wire.

[@basketballmaven1454]

what a beautiful beast

[@GordonSturrock]

pretty dang amazing alright

[@pauljs75]

So was it a component failure, or did the release for the lift hook get triggered somehow? (I know some helicopters have the ability to purposely jettison their sling load if they have some kind of operational emergency.) Seems expensive, but at least it looks like nobody got hurt.

[@cameronturner7475]

Looks like 22 stories to me, which would be about 265 feet to the roof top. A Grove GMK 6400 has 197 feet of main boom and 259feet of jib. It can easily make a 300 foot pick from the street level.

[@jimh4375]

My guess is they didn't want to close the street for the time it would take to set up the crane and take it back down. That's just a guess an I'm sure the keyboard warriors will tell me why I'm wrong.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

​@@jimh4375From watching the construction of SpaceX's facilities in Boca Chica, those large cranes take about a week to set up and another to pack down, so city traffic would have been closed in that area for much longer then by the use of the Skycrane. On top, you've got the mass of the crane sitting on the ground, compressing whatever's beneath, so if there's water, sewer, electrical, gas pipelines, or mass transit tunnels beneath the location the crane would sit, it's weight pressing down can do damage to those.

[@case_blair9965]

Having done this on many projects, its actually cheaper to do a helo pick than close a city street for the amount of time it takes to set up, pick ,and then tear down a crane.

[@ShaunHensley]

If they could have used it they would have.

[@jaso5114]

Using a helo is much more efficient for a scenario like this one

[@live4life767]

Cool vid👍🏼 I wish I was looking out from the top floor of the tallest building looking down on helicopter!!!

[@rudeawakening3833]

One of my brothers was attached to the 108 th “ Heavy Helicopter “ units in the Connecticut Army National Guard when this helicopter was officially retired from the U.S. military for the final flight(s ) . Being a former full time US Army aviator , he was also a foreman at Sikorsky Helicopter in Stratford Connecticut . The Sikorsky Corporation sold the rights and blueprints and all tooling and parts to Ericsson Crane . They were then no longer called Sikorsky Sky Cranes . They had new data plates riveted to the aircraft with Ericsson labels . I knew one of his friends and colleagues who was part of the team that made that conversion after the final sale . There was a very few of these ever manufactured ; some were shot down in Vietnam during the war as well . CH -54 Tarhe made its first flight in 1962 … Only 100 produced .

[@edwardstephens247]

Hell of a pilot!

[@Mtnmanmike62]

I remember one of these units dropping water on a fire near my house a few years back. They are waaay larger than they look on video. They hovered directly over my house for a moment. Every pebble for 100 yards around was cleared! We ran for cover!

[@michaelcarmean4906]

Masterful 🙏 Load Landed Perfect On Trailer… We Will Start Again After Lunch

[@haloguy628]

I got four free fall jumps from CH-54 in August 1986 on Sicily DZ in Bragg. Green Beret Sport Parachute Club somehow got one fly for us on the Weekend. The bird was from Alabama NG and was in Ft Bragg for their summer training. There was a conex like box with open back attached to the bird and just a couple of cargo straps for seat belts. The pilots were great and agreed to go to 14K for jump run and the turn around was really quick. It was probably a jump weekend with the most jumpers ever because the news got around and all the GBSPC guys showed up and so did a great number of jumpers from 18th Corps SPC and 82nd SPC that wanted to log jump from the exotic bird. Those were different times....

[@marko11kram]

I saw these working out of Ft Indiantown Gap. What an awesom machine

[@donaldjones3580]

I worked at Carson Helicopters, I did lift work about 10 years, only had one unit dropped when a nylon strap got cut lifting a ski tower, only used steel cables after that, the hell with the paint. Did have a unit being removed that the engineers miscalculated the weight after we had it off the frame the pilots had to put it back on the roof missing the frame. Did a bunch of those BAC units.

[@heyinway]

Fairlane Center Mall, Detroit...I had a Carson bird unload Trane a/c units to the rooftop. Daybreak, before the wind started. It was two trailer loads...dust the roof and parking lot, unit off and unit on...think there was 6 units total....less than an hour. Riggers had every unit waiting for hook...hook and go, no screwing around like these guys did.

[@brucejohnson4462]

Saving the fling wing was an amazing feat of skill!

[@m.m.7511]

Load master was on point in this situation.

[@csincos989]

I've seen one of these fly over my house a few years ago. Had a long fire hose attached to the hull. Was pretty cool to see and listen to.

[@alainbelisle643]

There is a factor to consider: for a dangerous lift, the planning has to be done right, and the priority is on the safety of the helicopter crew and of course the citizens. Each component is built to optimal weight, to minimize the number of lifts for cost efficiency. So the assembled units have to be at max safe weight, within the safety margin, not a bit more. And they should be weighed before the lift, for the calculations to be correct. I wouldn't be surprised if the unit, as it was being lifted, was seen as over the safe limit by the helicopter computer. The pilot immediately dropped it, that is a possible scenario.

[@jyellowhammer]

Gotta have a top notch rigger.

[@stev838]

Did they fill it before lifting ? Adding thousands of pounds of water not a good idea

[@ronsullivan132]

It is an AIR Conditioner unit, it is full of air. Lot of aluminum tubing. @@stev838

[@speede541]

Anyone local it appears they're set to try again Saturday morning March 27th, Clay & 14th.

[@Fred-vy1hm]

Nice that I didn't have to sit through 13 minutes of video to see the incident, I wish more you tubers would time stamp in the thumb what they are showing like you did. 🤔

[@EASTSIDERIDER707]

This looks like Siller Aviation just 6 miles from my home. I see their choppers at the shop on my fishing trips

[@elephantcompany6061]

I wonder if it was accidental release or triggered for some reason. Helicopter did not seam to be overloaded or struggling.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Watch the wiggle that the load and the Skycrane both do right before the load drops - bet on that being the automated safety systems kicking in before the load could swing the Heli out of control.

[@bobwilson758]

Nice video work !

[@freakgeeky]

Pilot was like "see ya! I'm outta here! Wasn't me!"

[@Randycane5991]

Those sky cranes can lift far more then what they say they are rated for to accomadate for the pilots giant kahonas ..nerves of steel flying that giant around buildings over so many people , cant imagine

[@charlieabbot3649]

Someone is in Troobbbllleeee. The pilot is like, Oh Man, I gotta go!

[@mikefrayman5224]

I’ve installed many of those cooling towers. Most of the time we have to take them apart to get them to where they gotta go, but they’re not very heavy not like an air conditioning unit.

[@ouroboris]

That was a boo-boo of magnanimous proportions.

[@briankrist4838]

I worked on a Skycrane flying logs as mechanic and went for ride in construction seat (back facing) and wow there is nothing like it "."

[@tcvideosennistexas]

ouch, thank goodness safety precautions were in place and there were no injuries or loss of life.

[@DavidFerree54]

No worries, BAC can have another package tower out there in a few hours for about $599.

[@nitdiver5]

Hey Fred, good news we saved 15% by not getting insurance on this job.

[@im1who84u]

The part you want to see is starts around 13:00. It's in the title, but just in case you missed it.

[@robertemmons2260]

Well, at least a Kenworth T800 wide nose had got the load to the location safely.

[@GordonSturrock]

was there no news reports of this happening? I never heard a peep about this, until just yesterday

[@jamesocker5235]

Cant cover meaning full things as cant be sure pronouns are proper

[@kebo57]

At 13:30, the pilot says, "Ok, we're done here, let's get back to the airport"!!!!! 😁

[@DirtyBob2001]

Crew probably said they really liked the town and wanted to come back, pilot was like I can make that happen.

[@LatitudeSky]

The actual call was probably "headache headache headache" followed by "knock it off"

[@MemoWardwell]

I DO HOPE that someone had the presence of mind to holler "Hey Mister, You Dropped Your Watch !"

[@TBJK07Jeep]

Nothing like dropping a cooling tower. I bet it was a pain in the ass to get replacement. Back order is crazy on that stuff.

[@heyinway]

BAC...hauled a lot of them...always in a hurry to ship....some failed final test or got speared by a forklift before loading.....argh !

[@GenerationGap69]

Didn’t appear to be struggling. Looked like hook mechanism failed or accidentally released? Anyone have an more details to confirm?

[@crazyralph6386]

It happens sometimes unfortunately. Why you never stand under any load

[@Ayaki6166]

Pretty cool.like skycrane.

[@Randy-v9x]

Ford plant in Louisville, KY [ mid 1990's ] had no error as this.

[@kingjames8283]

Well that's bad and looks like the cargo hook failed either due to being overloaded or material flaw. As the change over of the sling wasn't completely captured on video prior to this lift, it could also be that the rigging guy on the ground didn't properly attach the sling unit to the cargo hook. At any rate, the area around the cargo hook is where this failure occurred.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

Watching the lift, the load rocks, which then rocks the Heli, I'd expect an automated safety system cut in and disconnected the load before it dragged the Heli out of stable flight.

[@skitown11]

The rigging doesn't come from harbor freight.

[@huh4233]

I believe the guy sitting below the pilots in the cockpit, facing rearward, has a third set of flight controls and can fly from that position facing backward to watch the load and provide fine maneuvering of the aircraft.

[@johncurcio3621]

I don't know but my guess would be he doesn't have flight controls.

[@huh4233]

That would be a wrong guess. My platoon sergeant was a crew chief on these in Vietnam. You really need to use a search engine as after you post a 'guess' in 30 sec I confirmed I was indeed correct.@@johncurcio3621

[@drwheycooler8423]

​@@johncurcio3621you should have stuck with just "I don't know." and stopped typing. There is another full set of modified flight controls in the loader seat.

[@PiDsPagePrototypes]

​@@drwheycooler8423Isn't it similar to WW2 Bombadier controls, where they only have limited inputs, and the pilots controls immediately over-ride the crane ops?

[@bigdaddy7119]

@@PiDsPagePrototypesno. I worked on these in the Army National Guard (CH-54B’s) and the crew chief had collective and cyclic controls, but not the rudder (pedals), and he does the flying while doing sling load ops

[@davidn8759]

At 11:49 in the vid the rigger was working on the main line block and hook

[@duderguy1571]

Welp, looks like you need a road crane now to get it back on the truck. 🤣

[@matthodel946]

ha!

[@HiMarsPewPew]

Nice chunk of Scrap metal!

[@novarob]

Pretty efin talented Pilot!

[@jungleperry]

14:21 "that'll buff out" -John Candy, planes trains automobiles.

[@tygrahof9268]

Still nice flying!!

[@danielb516]

i need an rc skycrane to lift little logs around with . that would be awsem

[@Mallaien]

I live next to a Cal Fire base that has one of these, and they are really loud.

[@Magravated]

My ex was a military Skycrane and Huey pilot. When they punch the load like that it's usually because the load starts flying on it's own or gets wonky. This one didn't appear to have those issues but I could see that the load was starting to get a little unstable. That's very hard to correct. Those birds take 3 people to fly it normally. All of the wind those rotors create against those buildings probably messed it up. I don't see a "rigging failure" but that's possible too. He probably did the right thing based on the area, the audience and the task at hand. Those birds are humoungous and all it takes is for one rotor blade to touch the building and you have a disaster on your hands. Nice job, imo.

[@wcolby]

Nice work! it’s all about your network.

[@speede541]

Indeed! Hopefully I can get the flight crew's story assuming they'll return.

[@Colonel_Kitty]

​@@speede541 they are returning this weekend

[@julesviolin]

What is wrong with a ground based crane???

[@joewoodchuck3824]

I didn't know about this until now. What was the cause?

[@celticman1909]

Can't blame the riggers for that one! The line disconnected from the helicopter. Insurance carrier won't be happy about it. Huge premium increase or cancelation.

[@mysneekers5862]

Agree, what the hell happen? Looks like the pilot hit a disconnect switch, or did it break.

[@edwardestes8038]

I am sure that most of that will buff right out..........ooooopppsss

[@tiggersdad6878]

Can we have another AC unit please? Thank you so much

[@rdaystrom4540]

It was probably a lot heavier than stated.

[@peterrivney552]

Dam!!! If I wanted that ram air conditioner system on my car I would have ordered it from the factory!!!

[@JCin-s9h]

It looks like the connection at they helicopter end of the lift "cable" failed. Either it was equipment failure and/or somebody didn't do their job at weight calculations.

[@davidvincent1093]

It is an expensive oh shit moment BUT no one was hurt and that is all that matters

[@bluecollar58]

Bad day. Even if its an equipment failure , someone’s going to have some explaining to do.

[@AquaTech225]

Wonder what the rental fee per hour that beast is

[@skitown11]

Usually close to 20k just to show up. Plus 5k per hr.

[@07slowbalt]

We were very close to witnessing this happen at GM when the helicopter was full power over the roof with a nearly 20,000 lb piece of our air handler and was losing lift. The hot humid air over the roof changed the air density and the helicopter was overheating. It high tailed it off the roof, regained some lift and immediately set it back in the field. It made for a scary lift. Had to wait for cooler morning temps the next day.

[@gavincurtis]

They still have new HVAC units remaining. They should be able to get one up there before running out.

[@speede541]

Once you've got a safety incident like that it's time to stand down and perform an assessment. My question is what were the working conditions in that building during the 10 weeks while waiting for the rescheduled lift? The weather's always nice here, but all that glass can turn anything into a greenhouse!

[@joemothrots3846]

Oh they can bang out that sheet metal on that Baltimore Air Coil

[@GinCollins007]

Slight damage no big deal, Baltimore Air Coil tech's deal with this sort of thing on a regular basis

[@chrismoody1342]

I’ve have had HVAC equipment lifted to the roof top many times. Never had to use a helicopter just a large crane. Never came close to having a mishap if any kind. Sometimes it can get a little dicey trying to set in an exact position with it swinging under a cable. No room for mistakes.

[@Mike-sr6gd]

I've done two helly lifts. One morning we set 17 curb adapters and units in 28 minutes start to finish

[@saladbreath607]

As a certified rocket science professor i can tell you this wasn't me.

[@8T8Keez]

Somebody's not getting paid this week! LOL!!!

[@David-wc7lx]

Bad day. What's the lead time on that unit? 6 months? More?

[@whitcwa]

Some Bondo and a lick of paint and she'll be good as new.

[@johnkingery403]

It was at this moment, he knew, he fu**ed up.