Anyone ever fall out of a Huey?

in all m time with det 6 40arrs.  nobody fell out.   we did push a few pj's out, but they had chutes on, so that dosen't count

I remember trying to get out of a UH-1 during an insertion, only to be held up by a chalk member who was a large Samoan.  He froze and had ahold of the bench bar.  The problem was that my hand was holding it as well and he basically locked me in place until i could pry his fingers loose.

That's what you get when you go NOE with a first-timer.  I don't think I could feel anything above my wrist for a few days.

Falling out of a Helicopter!

 Yes, you can fall from a helicopter and it has been done.  On 13 Feb 71, Cpt. F.P. Smith, an EOD qualified Chemical Officer, assigned to the 1^st Cav. Div. (AMBL) died as the result of such a fall.  While conducting chemical dispenser operations from a UH-1H Huey at an altitude of approximately 1,500 feet a portion of the aircraft’s payload of BLU E158 Tactical CS dispensers functioned inside the cabin of the aircraft.  This allowed 264 D-cell battery-sized CS bomblets to start detonating within the cabin.

Although the copilot was wearing a protective mask the cockpit quickly filled with CS and all ground reference was lost.  The aircraft soon entered into an ‘unusual attitude’ as the copilot fought to regain control.  Once positive control was established the aircraft the copilot entered autorotation in an out-of-trim configuration to help rid the cabin of CS.  Once the cabin was clear it was realized that Capt. Smith was missing.  The aircraft made an emergency landing at the nearest US firebase.  All aircraft crewmembers and mission crew members from the chemical unit were subsequently evacuated to Camp Zama, Japan due to a variety of 2^nd and 3^rd burns.  Capt. Smith’s body was recovered three days later.

 I have personal knowledge of another incident that fortunately ended much happier.  This event too took place in SEA.   A PAX was sitting on the cabin floor immediately behind the copilot, right side of the aircraft in this case, with feet and legs out of the aircraft, not at all an unusual seating arrangement during this era.   The aircraft was loaded with MERMITE cans being backhauled from a line company that were settling in for the night.  The Aircraft Commander (AC) was taking pictures and the copilot was on the controls.  As a result abrupt, out-of-trim maneuver by the copilot to avoid dangerous situation all of the MERMITE cans shifted against the back of the individual sitting on the floor.  He was pushed out the door to point that his billfold was past the lip of the floor.  Until this time he had been holding onto one of the round openings in the cabin wall which is located behind the pilot’s seats.  However, due to the sharp edges on this opening he was not able to support his weight.  Everyone in the aircraft was absorbed in watching an action on the ground and had not realized how this situation had developed.  Fortunately the individual involved grabbed the copilot’s shoulder harness that runs from the top of his seat to the inertia real which is located on the bottom of the seats back.   This action abruptly jerked the copilot off the aircraft controls and into the back of his seat.  This initiated a great WTF that resulted in, the almost out of the aircraft, PAX being retrieved by many helping hands from within.

Regards,

Michael A.

A guy I know actually fell out of a huey, well not technically a huey I guess.

He was working a fire in North Western Ontario (Canada) helping unload/airdrop fire hose from the Bell 205 with the door open at a 50 foot or so hover. As the hoses started doppig (in yellow bags) the crew boss on the ground started counting one... two... three... and so on, untl he got to TEN!.

The pilot (Whom I also know)  YELLED 10?? 10?? there were only 9!!! Then on the ground, in some deep moss, my friend got up and brushed some moss off...  So people have fallen out of them.

There is another story from mexico with not so funny ending, where the federal police were doing drug eradication, when one of the officers in the back saw the crew chief strain against the monkey harness. When the CC leaned back in the cop UNHOOKED the harness from the floor, and the next time the CC leaned out, he fell to his death.

Both stories are unfortunately true too...

Nope not a person; however when training at Ft Leonard Wood , we were in flight in a huey.  We were trained that when in a chopper to have the muzzle between our feet on the floor.  Well next thing I know I see an M16 go out the door.................yep kid wasnt paing attention to what he was doing and that puppy went right out. I dont ever think in all my years in the Army did I ever hear a Sgt scream so loud for so long. 

They took him out for 5 days humping the mud, bogs and nasty s*** till he finally found it.  Needless to say we didnt see much of him after that, I think he was on his way for duty in Greenland or charlies chicken farm (jail).

Bob

I've never seen it, but I've heard of it. I flew as a gunner in Huey's in the Corps and later in Blackhawks for the Army. 

Now I did jump form a Huey once while it was still a little too high. Screwed my knee up royally. 

empeter wrote:

I've seen weapons and other equipment fall out, but never people. When I was a cadet we were getting a familiarization flight in a UH-1H. I was on the starboard side along with a female cadet who wasn't too keen to fly. When the crew chief came around to check that our seatbelts were secure she asked him if there was a chance of falling out if the aircraft banked sharply. He told her that centrifugal force would keep her in, but I pointed out the the same force would push her out the upward facing side. He walked away laughing so hard that he didn't hear her yelling, "Is that true? Is it?"

 I've heard this story from my dad,(huey pilot). Would have been back around 76 or so. Ft. Knox if I'm not mistaken?

this is a little late- I just found out about this link.  But for anyone still here or who also finds this link I'll add my 2 cents. 

 I was Vietnam door gunner on UH-1H - the c.c. and I flew w/o our 'monkey belts'.  You were supposed to tie all equipment down and I've caught stuff that wasn't and went sliding towards the open door when we banked sharply.  I lost a short length of belted ammo once, when it started out of its can like a slinky before I could grab it.  On a night time flare mission our pilot got vertigo and the flare cylinders lying in the halved-55 gal drum attachment began to roll toward the top of the drum and almost exited on their own.  Walking around inside the cabin wasn't the healthiest thing to do if the pilot did any fast or sharp maneuvers that could throw you off balance. One time I had to bring something from the cabin to one of the pilots and felt that I could have lost my footing and fallen out while they maneuvered around.   

But I never saw or heard of anyone fall out of a Huey.  According to the casualty stats though, almost half of the injured crewmen were injured in "non-combat situations."  I don't know how the military defines that or how they break it down.

Eric,

Actually the pilot with the map was navigating and keeping them on course, not keeping the pilot flying informed of the "dips" in the terain.  Initially they wouldn't let the Crew Chief, Medic or Gunner fly during NOE training since it was considered extremely dangerous.  Later the let them fly along and it was one "heck" of a ride, especially in a hilly area. I actually got some stick time and did some limited NOE flying.  It was are real rush!   

You definitely don't wanna go Zero G in a Huey or Cobra though... Tends to do nasty things like separate the rotor from the aircraft.  Gets you into what's called "Mast bumping", which basically bangs the rotor against the mast and if done too much, the rotor simply snaps off.  Semi-rigid rotors are kinda touchy that way. 

Jon

It is possible to go 0 Gravity in a helicopter. There is a great clip of this on youtube showing some amazing flying by a French helicopter crew. one of the crew members is seen floating around the troop compartment with all the little bits of items floating with him. They are doing some extreme flying in the video.

The Vietnam incidents are usually related to insertion accidents or of taking fire and loosing someone due to crashes. When I was in high school my girlfriends father flew with 1/9 as a gunner. He described having to clear weapons while in air of the twin 60s mounted outside his 'office' & he didnt drop off so they had their preverbial 'stuff' wired pretty tight. There are images of this online as well and I saw his photos of guys doing crazy things inflight like riding rocket pods. 

Flying got boring evidently. My dad said if they had anything left RTB they would take out Water Buffalos for fun.  

I've never fallen out of a Huey, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. 

don't mind me, but I couldn't resist.

fall out of a huey, Yes While Stationed at fort campbell KY with the 159th avn.

It was 1977 And the company commander was giving joyrides on his bird while we were out in the field on war games VS the 82nd airborne. Well he decided to do some combat manuvers and I go falling out of the bird. Luck has it I was wearing my strap so Just some dings to my body But mostly my pride. Found out later the major did this quite often to keep the crew sharp. Safety is the rule in military aircraft, But for a wheeled vehicle/generator tech I really loved flying in the huey, chinook, and cobras when the opportunity arose.

lots of stories of people "almost" falling out of the cabin........but never seem to.  However, lots of stories of vietnamese falling off the skids during lam son 719.......also, story is told in "ripcord" book of an american who panicked and grabbed a skid under fire only to fall to his death after the helicopter had gone quite a ways downrange and gotten quite high.......

MBT70 wrote:

For all of the missions I was on in Vietnam, I newver once came near falling out or saw anyone else falling out, but I did have a bad experience in 1988.  I was in the Washington State National Guard at the time and we were in Utah at Dugway during FIREX 88.  We were going to set up a remote relay antenna on top of a hill and had to rappell down because it was too lumpy to land there.  I was just at the ned of the rappell rope and an updraft of hot air caught the Huey and pulled it up an extra 20 or 30 feet just as I dropped off. I've had three surgeries on my right knee since then.  Quite a drop it was and I had full ruck and combat gear, including my weapon.  Ouch ......

Just listening to your experience makes my knee hurt.  Hope you are fully recovered from that injury

For all of the missions I was on in Vietnam, I newver once came near falling out or saw anyone else falling out, but I did have a bad experience in 1988.  I was in the Washington State National Guard at the time and we were in Utah at Dugway during FIREX 88.  We were going to set up a remote relay antenna on top of a hill and had to rappell down because it was too lumpy to land there.  I was just at the ned of the rappell rope and an updraft of hot air caught the Huey and pulled it up an extra 20 or 30 feet just as I dropped off.

I've had three surgeries on my right knee since then.  Quite a drop it was and I had full ruck and combat gear, including my weapon.  Ouch ......

OK, just to provide a little constrast to all of the (interesting) military stories, here's mine...

I paid for a ride in a sightseeing Hughes 500D back in the '80s on Kauai, Hawaii.  An older couple, my wife and I were passengers.  The pilot saw that I was the only one with a camera and suggested I take the left rear seat, which I did.  After I fastened the seat belt I realized that I was the only one without a door and figured this would be the closest I would ever get to "The Huey Experience".  As weird as it may seem, there was very little wind or noise even considering that I was wearing a headset.  Almost instinctively I put my hand "out the window" to "play with the air" as you typically do with a car window.  As soon as I got my palm outside of the door frame, it was slammed back into the rear of the frame.  I guess we really were moving through the air pretty fast!  I looked over the front seats to see that the airspeed indicator read 80 knots.  So with a little caution, I was able to stick the camera and my head outside to take a peek at the main and tail rotors (don't how how safe this was but I had to try it ;^).

As for falling out of the helicopter, I never felt like I was at risk of tumbling out the door, even if I hadn't been wearing a seat belt.  I found this a little surprising.  At the end of the tour, I thought the ride was pretty sedate but the other passengers were not walking very straight and my wife was turning green.  Even though it was a totally tourist thing, I still thought it was a terrific experience!

Martin  IPMS 44668

PatlaborUnit1

Sorry to hear about the knee, thats a fair old drop from the top of a huey, honourary mountain goat award and non slip sneakers in the post

Andy

oldhooker

Ive had the displeasure of falling off a Huey and a Blackhawk, my left knee is toast after I walk a few flghts of stair or spend too much time working off of ladders.  Slipped off a couple of 206B/Ls while working for PHI.......you need a Mountain Goat award with oak leaf clusters awarded just for walking around on top of those skinny cabins especially when the anti skid is shot and it's a humid night! (for that that dont know,oilfield birds fly all day and we started working on them around sundown)

My time in a Huey was mainly strapped in the back held firmly in my seat when we took a turn. I never saw anything move, shift or fall over..... 

David 

Hi Rich

on 19/4/1968 a member of,A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Air Cavalry Division, fell out of the left door of a UH-1D, from an altitude of between 3000 and 4000 feet while on a combat assault mission into the A Shau Valley.

The huey he was in was hit in the tail boom by anti aircraft fire which caused it to go into a spin and throw him out, due to the tactical situation and nature of the terrain it made a search for his body impossible.

Its a heartbreaking fact but yes it did happen.

Andy

Jose,

My Son said the author of "Not A Good Day To Die" was snubbed by the Teams when doing his interviews for security reasons and his book reflected his feelings about that, All I know for sure is nobody is a Superman.

Good people die in War, always have and still do.

The SEALs have learned much from this "War" and so has the Army...

Hey Jose, Thanks for your service comrade. Keep Your powder dry....

I'm a Vietnam Veteran as well as an old Sewer Pipe Sailor... I'm not sure how I feel about all this but I do now and always will support you guys and gals who do the dirty deeds in this War on Terror.

I must add that my Son's respect and admiration for the Rangers was very high after this event. He has made and maintained very strong friendships with these guys since then and during his following deployments to Afgan and Iraq.

Be well