25Daytona

Does anyone have details on the helicopter crash at the poker run on Sat?
We were there spectating and all I can say is those Outerlimits kick ass!

LPBoater

Yeah, buddy of mine saw it happen.. Here's the story I heard - true or not I don't know. The copter was turning around to go film another boat and when he turned the bird came down and the blades touched the water - down it went - it sunk very fast. Pilot and passenger were fine.

290PQ

It happened right in front of us! The pilot put it in a very steep bank to turn around and come back to film some more boats he made the turn but lost too much altitude his skids hit the water and it was all over!! Just as we got there the pilot and camera man popped up, very shook up but not hurt.
Very scary to say the least!
I'm just glad they are ok.
I heard the salvage crew is going down today to try to recover it.

BadDog

Thye may have been distracted just prior to this. They were over my boat and were filming flashers in the boats next to us. Came in pretty low. Glad to hear the crew is OK, hope they recover their film and equipment. Man that would suck to take a swim like that! Any idea what a rig like that would cost to bring up and repairs?

Iggy

I belive the FAA will consider the copter a total loss. They usually don't rebuild them after being sunk. If the camera was electronic, that too is junk.
Hope he has good insurance, and a lawyer to go with it because the FAA may revoke the pilots license especially if they feel he broke any rules.

glassdave

depending on where they were at it could be a difficult recovery. lake cumberland is very deep. glad everyone is alright, it could have been much worse. btw, anybody know what kind of copter it was. many use Robinson R22's, just curious.

290PQ

Glassdave, Yes it was a R-22. We were at the scene and showed 103ft. deep. I was told divers and a barge were going out this morning to get it. I'm sure it will be a total loss!!

Flyinbrian

I did a search on aerotraderonline for Robinson. HERE is a '99 R-22 for sale for $139,900. Not exactly cheap by any means, but in the world of choppers, I don't think that is one of the higher end models. There are mid 70's model Bell Jet Ranger's going for $300,000+.

BAJA WILL

That is a very affordable Helicopter, My family has a couple of Bell Jet Rangers. Sadly we put one down last summer. No injuries but very expensive day, (no Ins) on that one. Very glad the pilot and passangers got out OK.

WILL

PhantomChaos

It is the cheapest "production" helicopter that you can by. The only cheaper ones are kits, like the Rotorway 162F. You can get this new for about $65K and build it in 300 hours.