100-year-old in copter crash dies

I saw this video on another forum today but there were no details about the crash. It looks like the same helicopter.

Watch how the rotorblades clip the trees on both sides and then hit the light post on the left. I can't imagine how the pilot thought he could make it throught there.


http://svt.se/content/1/c6/40/98/01/helikopter2.asx
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Puzzling as well... If the pilot intended to take off, why didn't he just do a max performance t/o from the clear area instead of taxiing down what looks like a public street?
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I could be wrong, but my impression from watching the video was that the pilot wasn't very good at controlling the hover. At the beginning he seemed to drift sideways/backwards a long ways and thus came unnecessarily close to a fence and some trees. Then as he air taxied forward he clearly drifted to the right and clipped some small trees that could have easily been missed had he been centered in the available space.
 
lancefisher said:
I could be wrong, but my impression from watching the video was that the pilot wasn't very good at controlling the hover. At the beginning he seemed to drift sideways/backwards a long ways and thus came unnecessarily close to a fence and some trees. Then as he air taxied forward he clearly drifted to the right and clipped some small trees that could have easily been missed had he been centered in the available space.
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I noticed that as well, Lance. It was almost as though he (or she) never got into a stable hover. Odd also that he seemed to sidestep to our right rather than do a pedal turn first and then taxi forward (keeping the tail rotor away from obstructions).
 
lancefisher said:
...At the beginning he seemed to drift sideways/backwards a long ways and thus came unnecessarily close to a fence and some trees.
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It looked to me like he was moving to his left to line up with the street that he taxied down.
 
Nav8tor said:
It looked to me like he was moving to his left to line up with the street that he taxied down.
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Maybe, but I was taught to come to a stable hover before doing anything else. Once you do that (and the bird isn't doing anything weird), then you turn, taxi, or whatever. His drift to the left seemed to start almost immediately.
 
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