# How a helicopter crashed a plane **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983 "2022-10-09T18:56:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/1 "2022-10-09T18:56:08Z")
I admit that helicopter doesn’t look like a threat. He’s landed and far down the runway. Look what happens to the plane. 😲 That’s known as dirty air from turbulence. News reports said the pilot did one go around to let the air settle. It wasn’t enough. The pilot reportedly survived. I learned a lot from this video. I didn’t appreciate how bad dirty air can be. Cite It also happens with race cars. [Slipstream and 'dirty air' explained - Racecar Engineering](https://www.racecar-engineering.com/tech-explained/slipstream-and-dirty-air-explained/) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RI1MOM93Z0U/maxresdefault.jpg "Helicopter Causes Plane to Crash Land") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI1MOM93Z0U) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/2 "2022-10-09T20:43:34Z")
Small, single-engine Cessnas (which is what the crashing plane looked like, even if I’m not 100% sure) are surprisingly crash worthy. Not that I would ever want to crash anything, of course. Wake turbulence is a big deal. It was certainly on my mind the time ATC slotted me between an F-16 and a B737 on the way into Fort Wayne, Indiana, with me in a tiny 2-seat Cessna, but fortunately everyone involved was competent and following directions so everything was fine. I’ve run into a couple of pilots who hit wake turblence, including an FAA examiner who admitted that when he blundered into a blender he “screamed like a little girl”. He was high enough to recover without an issue, though. Other than perhaps requiring a change of underwear. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/3 "2022-10-09T22:46:14Z")
It happens with boating too, although there you can see most of the turbulence. It is a nasty experience in a race car, I don’t even want to imagine it in a plane. I’m going to modify this. Imagine you are in a van, pulling a boat down the highway at 60 mph. Suddenly you are passed on the left, and then again on the right by fully loaded semi trailers doing 90 mph. Feel that suck? Scared when the boat trailer starts fishtailing? Now think about that in a plane, trying to land. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/4 "2022-10-10T00:52:42Z")
I remember we had been climbing for quite some time out of Heathrow heading for Egypt. Suddenly the jet dropped like a rock. 0G for so long. It stopped with a big bang as we grabbed air again. Passenger apologized for grabbing my leg so hard. That happened at high altitude with spacing observed. Pilot announced it as a wake turbulence issue. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/5 "2022-10-10T09:41:05Z")
> [@Kedikat](#): > > Suddenly the jet dropped like a rock. 0G for so long Happened to my flight in 2002 to Germany, Lufthansa. I screamed like a not so little girl and grabbed mutually the little old lady sitting next to me who was also screaming. Then we both got a shot from the steward in our section and had a stiff shot. Vodka as a sedative for the win! ---
**Author:** ![Anita\_Dayoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Anita\_Dayoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anita_Dayoff)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/6 "2022-10-10T13:07:18Z")
Another helicopter/plane crash. [Merion air disaster - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merion_air_disaster) Killed John Heinz (ketchup) and John Kerry married the widow ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/7 "2022-10-10T19:42:36Z")
Here’s a very detailed write up of the Merion crash. > **[Panic on the Schoolyard: The Merion midair collision (death of Senator John...](https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/panic-on-the-schoolyard-the-merion-midair-collision-death-of-senator-john-heinz-90c7f4b8fa4f)** > > On the 4th of April 1991, a hired Piper Aerostar carrying Pennsylvania Senator John Heinz experienced a landing gear problem while on… All of Admiral Cloudberg’s crash analysis is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/8 "2022-10-13T08:52:22Z")
Yes, excellent analysis. A very good article indeed. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-a-helicopter-crashed-a-plane/972983/9 "2022-10-13T14:46:04Z")
He usually writes one a week. I come across them in r/CatastrophicFailure. Check on Saturday afternoons. > **[r/CatastrophicFailure](https://old.reddit.com/r/CatastrophicFailure/)** > > r/CatastrophicFailure: Videos, gifs, or aftermath photos of machinery, structures, or devices that have failed catastrophically during operation.