3 Men survived after a helicopter crashed in an active volcano in the Hawaiian Islands
A helicopter spinning out of control and going down sounds like a nightmare but just imagine this uncontrolled helicopter is falling into the mouth of an active gurgling volcano. Unfortunately, this isn't a tale created by my vivid imagination or a new episode of a disaster TV series, it's a true story that happened more than 20 years ago.
As soon as Craig Husking was tall enough to reach the pedals, his father started to teach him how to fly a helicopter. No wonder at the age of 16, the teenager became one of the youngest licensed helicopter pilots ever. Besides he was just as skilled in flying different kinds of aeroplanes, see planes and gliders. Eventually, Hosking became a successful aerial photographer who also helped to make feature films and TV series, so when he was asked to participate in the shooting of a new big-budget movie about volcano eruptions he readily agreed.
There were two other members in this little team, a freelance cameraman Michael Benson and freelance film technician Christopher Dundee. The cruise helicopter was the 'bell 206 b3', equipped with two cameras. The helicopter was supposed to do filming runs of the Kilauea Volcano on the Hawaiian Islands, in particular, the filming team was interested in the 'poo ovett' (yeah that's what it says right here whoo ooo). Although there was no active lava flow in the vent an orange pool glowing 120 feet down in a pit on the side of the crater as well as The Associated smoke Club was enough to provide all the excitement the filmmakers needed.
It was Saturday, November 21st 1992, everything went as planned until the helicopter started its third pass over the volcano. Just a couple of seconds before the crew reached the centre of the crater things went really bad really fast. First Hosking noticed that the main rotor output started to decrease then almost immediately the rotor caution sign lit up. It seemed like the helicopter was serious technical problems as in any other situation such an experienced pilot as Hosking still could have flown over to the outside of the crater but unfortunately, in this case, the wall surrounding the helicopter was so steep that such a manoeuvre would have led to a fatal rollover.
It happened lightning fast. In his attempts to save the day, Husking accidentally got into a cloud of volcanic steam and smoke the pilot tried to leave it by Auto rotating the helicopter down to the bottom of the crater. He knew that if a helicopter loses all its engine power the machine can still land safely because the air will be moving up through the rotors and it probably would have saved their helicopter as well if the main rotor hadn't struck the craters rock wall and separated from the airframe.
After that things went completely awry when the helicopter spun out of control and crashed inside the volcano about 150 feet below the crater's rim, however, it must have been a lucky day for the filming crew locked inside. Not only did the helicopter narrowly avoid dipping into a hot bubbling lava pool but all three men survived and had no serious injuries except for some bruises and minor cuts but the situation was still extremely dangerous. The men were stuck inside a volcano that was emitting poisonous gases like sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, flammable and explosive there fatally toxic for people. The only thing that saved the filming crew members was that they crashed in a part of the crater where fresh air was leaking inside over the rim.
After choking on the noxious volcano gases for several hours the filmmakers decided to make a run for it and started to climb up towards the crater's rim but the interior walls crumbled so easily that every single move could cause a rockslide. Husking returned to the helicopter and miraculously made the radio work by connecting it to a spare battery. After the park officials were informed of the crash, a daring Fire Department helicopter pilot flew inside the crater low enough for Hosking to scramble a bore but the two other team members were in a much more dangerous situation. The problem was that they decided to continue their climb and when the helicopter arrived, they were stuck on a high ridge about 80 feet away from the rim obscured and because of the cloud of dense gases, they had to be left behind.
Dundee and Benson spent an agonizing night listening to the lava gurgling not far beneath a-- breathing in toxic gases and trying to come to terms with their fate. However, on Sunday afternoon. Dundee couldn't stand it any longer in despair he decided to continue the climb. Benson who had founded a secure 2 by 4-feet crevasse, some fifty feet away from his companion, realized that it was too risky and chose to remain where he was. Dundee left alone you can imagine!! Benson shocked when just a couple of hours later he saw a body that careened past him and disappeared in the gurgling lava he was sure it was Dundee who had lost his footing and plunged into the abyss.
Luckily that wasn't the case. 27 hours after the crash at 2:30 p.m. Dundee reached the rim of the crater, he was immediately taken to the hospital but was released one day later. As for the thing Benson had taken for his colleague's body it was a survival package dropped by the rescue team who hoped that it would miraculously land next to the cameraman. By Monday morning Benson had been inside the crater for two days without food or proper sleep terrified and exhausted even worse. All the rescue attempts failed due to the heavy rain and fog that covered the volcano.
Finally at 9 a.m. on Monday during a tiny break in the weather, helicopter pilot Tom Hoffman noticed Benson, before the fog closed back up, almost immediately at least now it was clear where the man was. Hauptmann lowered his helicopter into the vent and used a 150-foot rope with a net to fish the cameraman out with no visibility whatsoever the pilot had to rely on his senses to rescue Benson why when he felt the Rope tighten he pulled it up and there was the cameraman. Benson was taken to Hilo Hospital, intensive care unit in stable condition and was treated for chemical pneumonia caused by the inhalation of the toxic gases as well as dehydration and exposure. The cause of the accident could have been the volcanic gas which caused a partial loss of engine power only thanks to the pilot skills the filming crew members got away alive with no serious injuries. However unique this helicopter crash wasn't the only case where people survived a fall into a volcano crater.
In 2007 a group of people was exploring all Doyen of NJ, an active volcano in Tanzania when a porter of the group fell into a crevasse filled with lava. Amazingly the man not only survived but also climbed back to safety on his own. His legs and arms were burned but he was alive. What saved him was the extraordinary cold lava of old dongho lenggang. Well, it's probably not what you would consider cold, but believe me, with a temperature of 950 degrees Fahrenheit(510°C) the lava was exceptionally cool instead of the red-orange flowing liquid that probably comes to your mind. This cold lava is black and slow-moving that's why the man managed to throw his pack down and stand on it until he finally climbed out of the crevasse.
Another man fell as deep as 2,000 feet into the crater of Mount st. Helens and remained unscathed. In 2008 John Slemp along with his son and a friend went up to the crater's rim with their snowmobiles to enjoy the breathtaking view, at one moment an overhanging shelf of snow under slumps feet broke loose and the man dropped 200 feet down. However, when he tried to climb back the snow fell apart beneath him and he dropped another 1,500 feet down. When the man was rescued by a helicopter team just a couple of hours later, the only injuries he suffered were a hyper-extended leg and several minor cuts. Then there was the woman who during a Mount Batur hike in Bali suddenly fell off the platform straight into the crater. She was lucky that those around her had a lightning-fast reaction seeing that she landed about a hundred thirty feet below the platform other tourists formed an arm and arm human chain that reached the woman and pulled her out. Besides they managed to keep her alive until the medical team arrived.
Now have I forgotten about any other people falling into volcanoes and surviving this blood-chilling experience actually I think the blood would boil. Now let's not split hairs no matter, if so let me know down in the comments if you learned something new today then share it with a friend but hey don't go diving into a volcano just yet. We have many cool articles for you to check out. All you have to do is to click any of the following links.
It happened lightning fast. In his attempts to save the day, Husking accidentally got into a cloud of volcanic steam and smoke the pilot tried to leave it by Auto rotating the helicopter down to the bottom of the crater. He knew that if a helicopter loses all its engine power the machine can still land safely because the air will be moving up through the rotors and it probably would have saved their helicopter as well if the main rotor hadn't struck the craters rock wall and separated from the airframe.
After that things went completely awry when the helicopter spun out of control and crashed inside the volcano about 150 feet below the crater's rim, however, it must have been a lucky day for the filming crew locked inside. Not only did the helicopter narrowly avoid dipping into a hot bubbling lava pool but all three men survived and had no serious injuries except for some bruises and minor cuts but the situation was still extremely dangerous. The men were stuck inside a volcano that was emitting poisonous gases like sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, flammable and explosive there fatally toxic for people. The only thing that saved the filming crew members was that they crashed in a part of the crater where fresh air was leaking inside over the rim.
After choking on the noxious volcano gases for several hours the filmmakers decided to make a run for it and started to climb up towards the crater's rim but the interior walls crumbled so easily that every single move could cause a rockslide. Husking returned to the helicopter and miraculously made the radio work by connecting it to a spare battery. After the park officials were informed of the crash, a daring Fire Department helicopter pilot flew inside the crater low enough for Hosking to scramble a bore but the two other team members were in a much more dangerous situation. The problem was that they decided to continue their climb and when the helicopter arrived, they were stuck on a high ridge about 80 feet away from the rim obscured and because of the cloud of dense gases, they had to be left behind.
Dundee and Benson spent an agonizing night listening to the lava gurgling not far beneath a-- breathing in toxic gases and trying to come to terms with their fate. However, on Sunday afternoon. Dundee couldn't stand it any longer in despair he decided to continue the climb. Benson who had founded a secure 2 by 4-feet crevasse, some fifty feet away from his companion, realized that it was too risky and chose to remain where he was. Dundee left alone you can imagine!! Benson shocked when just a couple of hours later he saw a body that careened past him and disappeared in the gurgling lava he was sure it was Dundee who had lost his footing and plunged into the abyss.
Luckily that wasn't the case. 27 hours after the crash at 2:30 p.m. Dundee reached the rim of the crater, he was immediately taken to the hospital but was released one day later. As for the thing Benson had taken for his colleague's body it was a survival package dropped by the rescue team who hoped that it would miraculously land next to the cameraman. By Monday morning Benson had been inside the crater for two days without food or proper sleep terrified and exhausted even worse. All the rescue attempts failed due to the heavy rain and fog that covered the volcano.
Finally at 9 a.m. on Monday during a tiny break in the weather, helicopter pilot Tom Hoffman noticed Benson, before the fog closed back up, almost immediately at least now it was clear where the man was. Hauptmann lowered his helicopter into the vent and used a 150-foot rope with a net to fish the cameraman out with no visibility whatsoever the pilot had to rely on his senses to rescue Benson why when he felt the Rope tighten he pulled it up and there was the cameraman. Benson was taken to Hilo Hospital, intensive care unit in stable condition and was treated for chemical pneumonia caused by the inhalation of the toxic gases as well as dehydration and exposure. The cause of the accident could have been the volcanic gas which caused a partial loss of engine power only thanks to the pilot skills the filming crew members got away alive with no serious injuries. However unique this helicopter crash wasn't the only case where people survived a fall into a volcano crater.
In 2007 a group of people was exploring all Doyen of NJ, an active volcano in Tanzania when a porter of the group fell into a crevasse filled with lava. Amazingly the man not only survived but also climbed back to safety on his own. His legs and arms were burned but he was alive. What saved him was the extraordinary cold lava of old dongho lenggang. Well, it's probably not what you would consider cold, but believe me, with a temperature of 950 degrees Fahrenheit(510°C) the lava was exceptionally cool instead of the red-orange flowing liquid that probably comes to your mind. This cold lava is black and slow-moving that's why the man managed to throw his pack down and stand on it until he finally climbed out of the crevasse.
Another man fell as deep as 2,000 feet into the crater of Mount st. Helens and remained unscathed. In 2008 John Slemp along with his son and a friend went up to the crater's rim with their snowmobiles to enjoy the breathtaking view, at one moment an overhanging shelf of snow under slumps feet broke loose and the man dropped 200 feet down. However, when he tried to climb back the snow fell apart beneath him and he dropped another 1,500 feet down. When the man was rescued by a helicopter team just a couple of hours later, the only injuries he suffered were a hyper-extended leg and several minor cuts. Then there was the woman who during a Mount Batur hike in Bali suddenly fell off the platform straight into the crater. She was lucky that those around her had a lightning-fast reaction seeing that she landed about a hundred thirty feet below the platform other tourists formed an arm and arm human chain that reached the woman and pulled her out. Besides they managed to keep her alive until the medical team arrived.
Now have I forgotten about any other people falling into volcanoes and surviving this blood-chilling experience actually I think the blood would boil. Now let's not split hairs no matter, if so let me know down in the comments if you learned something new today then share it with a friend but hey don't go diving into a volcano just yet. We have many cool articles for you to check out. All you have to do is to click any of the following links.
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