Helo Crash in East River, NY

[jimnyc]

Absolutely. It's irresponsible for the helo company not to give a 5min lesson on how to get out. I wonder if the pilot told them to tighten straps for the crash. Panic can make even simple tasks complicated. Perhaps the straps did have easy releases.

They probably did.

But others in the military, and pilots, will go through intense training for such events. It's not easy, the dis-orientation, and inability to unstrap, swim down, then up, not as easy as it sounds or appears. So folks panic, suck in water and struggle instead of remaining calm and taking their time to get the belt off and get the F out of dodge. Even if it's just a hit the button for release, the panic and struggling make it too difficult for some and they screw themselves.

[Gunny]

During training, they prep you for it.
They explain the who's, what's and why's.
Then they show you what's gonna happen.

Still made me scared as hell when I went into the trainer.



And for you Gunny

I took that training. I didn't think anything about it honestly. I just brain-locked on the steps. We lost a helo during work-ups on my last MEU ride and the CO went nuts and made us all get HEEDS qualified.

[Gunny]

They probably did.

But others in the military, and pilots, will go through intense training for such events. It's not easy, the dis-orientation, and inability to unstrap, swim down, then up, not as easy as it sounds or appears. So folks panic, suck in water and struggle instead of remaining calm and taking their time to get the belt off and get the F out of dodge. Even if it's just a hit the button for release, the panic and struggling make it too difficult for some and they screw themselves.

The hardest part is holding your breath and waiting for the knuckleheads around you to quit panicking before going for the hatch. Get kicked in the head if you don't.