# Could thieves use a skycrane helicopter to steal things?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-thieves-use-a-skycrane-helicopter-to-steal-things/257383>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 29, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-thieves-use-a-skycrane-helicopter-to-steal-things/257383 "2004-07-29T03:24:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-thieves-use-a-skycrane-helicopter-to-steal-things/257383/41 "2004-07-31T01:11:19Z")

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This also needs to somehow involve a LARC and a DUKW.

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**Author:** ![stochastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@stochastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stochastic)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-thieves-use-a-skycrane-helicopter-to-steal-things/257383/42 "2004-07-31T08:04:13Z")

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I was wondering (and worrying, a bit) if maybe a SkyCrane in the hands of terrorists could be used to swipe a spent nuclear fuel rod transport cask whilst in transit to a nuclear waste depository. Some poking around Google revealed that the smallest of these casks is around 25 tons, so the SkyCrane ain’t gonna move it. Plus, one would hope that such a shipment would be pretty heavily guarded. It sounds pretty James Bond-ian to me, so this scenario might make it to a theater near you (if it hasn’t already).  
(btw…I had an oogie feeling searching online for the specifications of those casks, and now I’ve suggested here a terrorist use for them. I wonder if the friendly gents at the Dept of Homeland Security won’t be sending in the black helicopters to pay me a visit.) 😛

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**Author:** ![Silocke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Silocke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silocke)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-thieves-use-a-skycrane-helicopter-to-steal-things/257383/43 "2004-07-31T23:34:25Z")

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OK Fitzy, you talked me into it. When do we start?

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-thieves-use-a-skycrane-helicopter-to-steal-things/257383/44 "2004-08-01T01:03:52Z")

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Of course, one could try using [one of these babies](http://www.projectfreight.net/Highlight/oldygoldies.htm) for some mega-heavy lifting. Or an [Mi-32](http://avia.russian.ee/vertigo/mi-32-r.html).

They’d both be as stealthy as KISS performing on a steamroller going through a minefield full of kittens and china vases, though.

Ranchoth  
(Hey, when you’ve already strapped four helicopters to a blimp, there’s no such thing as too much hyperbole.)

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