A few months ago a CH-46 “Sea Knight” helicopter crashed while landing on a ship during exercises off the coast of San Diego. This morning the local news showed footage of the tragic crash that took the lives of several Marines.
The newsman, Kent Shockneck (whom I can’t stand anyway, because he’s a twit), narrated the images saying, “The pilot tried to take off, but didn’t have enough lift [and he crashed in the ocean].” The footage clearly showed that the aft port landing gear of the helicopter had become hooked on the landing pad’s railing. (There is a rail-supported net stretched nearly horizontally around the landing area to catch people who may fall off of the pad.)
They showed the footage several times, and it was quite obvious that this was the reason the helicopter rolled overboard; yet no mention was made of it. Anyone listening to the report, instead of watching it, would think that the aircraft crashed because “it didn’t have enough lift”.
I don’t expect the talking heads to know everything about the stories they report, but you’d think they’d be able to pick out the obvious!
(Pilots tend to come up with theories as to why aircraft crash, long before the official word comes out. Here’s mine: The pilot failed to maintain altitude until he was safely over the landing area. After the fuselage impacted the deck, apparently with no severe damage to the fuselage, he attempted to lift off. The aft port landing gear had been hooked on the ship’s structure during the attempted landing. The pilot continued to apply power resulting in a “dynamic rollover” situation. The pilot should have maintained altitude until he was safely over the landing area. Having landed short, hooking the landing gear on the ship, the pilot should have reduced power. This would have severely damaged the helicopter; but it would not have gone overboard and most, if not all, of the occupants would have survived.)