All Three Pax Walk Away, Pilot Receives Minor Injuries

Generally speaking, when you see your helicopter heading for trees, it's not a good thing. But the passengers in a Robinson R44 (file photo shown) that went down during a photo shoot Wednesday in South Africa credit trees around the University of Cape Town for preventing a crash into a building, resulting in minor injuries to the pilot and none to the passengers.

Passenger Terry February, 56, told IOL News he was photographing the Graca Machel building on UCT’s Lower Campus, for BKS Engineering, a company which had been involved in its construction, when he noticed, " the pilot was struggling to position the helicopter and he was circling when the helicopter made a very strong shudder." After the pilot told the passengers he was going to make an emergency landing, February says the machine seemed to lose power.

"We were tumbling down and I could see the blades crashing into the road… fuel was just squirting out and we were concerned it was going to blow up and burn," he told the news service. "I could see the ground rushing towards us and then the bottom hit the tree top just over the highway."

The R44 broke a skid and came to rest on its side with fuel leaking, but there was no fire. South Africa's Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.

FMI: www.uct.ac.za ; www.robinsonheli.com/rhc_r44_raven_series.html