We’ve all been there, circling the parking lot, looking for just the right spot. And then you hit a curb, and you feel very dumb. I imagine that’s exactly how these U.S. Navy pilots felt after knocking off their $21 million MH-60S Seahawk’s tailwheel while trying to park at a New York City heliport.
This Seahawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Nine (HSC-9, also known as the “Tridents”) was making a stopover on a routine training flight from Naval Station Norfolk on December 14th, 2017, according to Commander Dave Hecht, the Public Affairs Officer for Naval Air Forces Atlantic, where the squadron is attached to the USS George H.W. Bush, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
The helicopter was just taxiing to the landing pad at the Wall Street Heliport in Manhattan when the incident occurred, the emailed statement from Commander Hecht said, and “there no injuries to the crew which included two pilots and a crewman.”
So at least that’s good news. The Seahawk was subsequently repaired and flown back to Norfolk, and the Navy is looking into the matter.
And yeah, this is a screwup, but let’s not be unreasonable. We’ve all been there before.
(H/T to Nolan for the video)