Rescue copter down safely after losing landing skid
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
For 10 tense minutes yesterday afternoon, pilot Steven Aiu gripped the controls of his fire department helicopter with all the calm he posessed.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
He was only inches off the ground, but he couldn't land. His entire left landing skid was gone, torn off during a hard landing in La'ie.
A crippled Fire Rescue 1, the Honolulu Fire Department's helicopter, approaches Lagoon Drive home base.
To set down with only one skid would topple the Honolulu Fire Department helicopter and turn its five overhead rotors into shrapnel.
All around Aiu at the heliport off Lagoon Drive, mechanics frantically worked to place jacks under his helicopter. The rotors cut the air above their heads at 425 revolutions per minute.
But Aiu kept it steady in what Honolulu fire officials call an amazing display of skill.
"It was just hovering," said Aiu when it was all over, his sunburned face split with an aw-shucks grin.
"I can't say there weren't extra palpitations," he said. "But the calmer I could stay, the easier it all would be."
Aiu had been on a rescue flight in La'ie. The call for a "high angle rescue" came at 11:30 a.m. A cellular telephone company worker on an antenna appeared to have suffered a stroke.
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| Hankel & McCoy employee Lucius Crabbe, top, descends to help lower his co-worker, Will Meyers, from a cellular monopole near La'ie. Meyers, who may have suffered a stroke, lost his grip while working on the tower.
Kyle Sackowski • The Honolulu Advertiser |
"When I made an approach to the area, the wind caught me and pushed me down," Aiu said.
It was probably about 12:15 p.m., but Aiu isn't sure. He remembers the sound of metal tearing, not the time.
The impact left only a pair of stubs poking out of the helicopter on the left side.
Aiu said he had only one option: return to the Lagoon Drive heliport where the department stores the bright yellow McDonnell Douglas 520N "NOTAR" helicopter.
As Aiu left, the ailing worker was taken away by ambulance.
During the flight back, Aiu said he was never scared. He was upset, though.
"I was thinking it was Friday the 13th and it was not a good day," Aiu said.
Aiu, a 41-year-old 'Aiea resident, is the department's senior pilot. He has flown helicopters since 1993, all of that time with the fire department.
It took 20 minutes to return to base, longer than normal because Aiu flew over as many unpopulated areas as he could find.
There was only a trace of urgency in his voice as he spoke over the radio. "I don't know what the right side looks like," he said, "but the left side is gone!"
At the heliport, senior fire department staff waited in the hangar, including Chief Attilio Leonardi. Two airport fire trucks waited in the wings.
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| Despite the "few extra palpitations," Honolulu Fire Department pilot Steven Aiu said staying calm made his emergency landing a bit easier.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser |
"I just didn't want to see a fireball," he said.
When Aiu slowly brought the helicopter down about 12:54 p.m. after hovering briefly over Ke'ehi Lagoon, mechanics with Rotor Wing Hawai'i rushed out with jacks.
They take care of the helicopter and routinely install jacks to prop it up.
But the engine is always off when they do it.
"This was crazy, very intense," said Bob Ota, president of Rotor Wing Hawai'i, shaking his head. "Every one of my boys was pumping."
All of them would have been in danger if the jacks failed.
"Pieces would have been flying all over," he said. "It would have been disastrous."
To keep it from tilting forward, five mechanics held the tail of the helicopter, which has no rear blades. Aiu held his controls. Fire officials held their breath.
Finally, about 1 p.m., Aiu cut the engines and the rotors whined to a halt after several minutes.
Mechanics plan to inspect the helicopter over the weekend and will know by Monday what parts are needed. They will have to be shipped by air to Hawai'i, but Air 1 could be airborne again by Friday, Soo said. In the meantime, military evacuation helicopters will be used for rescues.
And fire officials can exhale.
"It was amazing and miraculous," Soo said. "Our prayers were answered. The potential for disaster was seconds away."
