Authorities have spent two days searching for a crashed helicopter Columbia, Missouri based on a 911 call. Here are some details from a TV station’s story:
He told the dispatcher his name was Larry Bishop and they were flying from North Carolina to Kansas City.
He also said there were six others on board and the pilot was dead.
Towards the end of the conversation Larry repeatedly said he could not feel his feet. Just before the phone line went dead, he was calling out a female’s name.
This is a very strange incident. From RDU to Kansas City is nearly 800 nautical miles, well beyond the range of any helicopter ever manufactured. You’d probably have to make two refueling stops to make it from North Carolina to Kansas City, an all-day ordeal at the sluggish cruising speeds of even the most expensive helicopters (pushing into a typical west-to-east headwing slowing the machine down even further). Anyone rich enough to charter a helicopter would be rich enough to charter a jet or turboprop instead and fly non-stop in a tiny fraction of the time.
A helicopter that can carry 7 people is at least a $2 million machine that requires a substantial support crew. One of them would very likely have noticed the pilots’ failure to report arriving in Kansas City.
Anyone who can afford to charter a $2 million, $1000/hour helicopter ought to be someone with, if not a lot of friends, at least a lot of dependants. You’d think one of them would have noticed his boss’s disappearance.
If this story proves to be true it will be almost as amazing as the U.S. Navy’s failure to notice the sinking of the 1,100-person cruiser Indianapolis during World War II (see the book In Harm’s Way).
[Update: Manila seems to be failing to post the comments that have been placed on this article. The most interesting is a link to the audio recording of the 911 call: http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/2538847/detail.html]
Sometimes local tv stations don’t get the story straight. I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be a hot air balloon crash in the Bermuda’s triangle.
Don’t know if it’s related at all, but there is an actor by the name of Larry Bishop http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/PersonDetail/personid-8970 , that has a role in the new movie (coming out this week), Kill Bill.
right, no flight report, no witnesses, nothing other than a phone call — how do we know this isn’t a prank?
It’s got to be a hoax.
http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/1003/105540.html
Hoax.
http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/1003/105540.html
It certainly is bizarre, and the most plausible explanation at the moment is that the call was a hoax. That is the conclusion that the authorities are heading towards. They have suspended the search.
The cell phone call has been tracked to a soybean field (how?). I suppose it would be very difficult to miss a crashed 7 seat helicopter in a soybean field.
The Kansas Times has the audio file of the 911 call here (http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/2538847/detail.html).
Wow the press just don’t know anythning about gerenal aviation. I recently read that the guy
who built the copy Howard Hughs racing plane (remember seeing it at Oshkosh) who unfortunatly
crashed in Yellowstone, had as reported ‘gear’ problems. That of course, to us pilots meens landing
gear or wheels, but the local paper said he had a problem with his engine gearbox……..funny I’m
still looking for the gear lever in my Cessna…….
Simon H N80DL
Wow the press just don’t know anythning about gerenal aviation. I recently read that the guy
who built the copy Howard Hughs racing plane (remember seeing it at Oshkosh) who unfortunatly
crashed in Yellowstone, had as reported ‘gear’ problems. That of course, to us pilots meens landing
gear or wheels, but the local paper said he had a problem with his engine gearbox……..funny I’m
still looking for the gear lever in my Cessna…….
Simon H N80DL