.... but the helicopter I was in sure isn't. The tail rotor got smashed off on a rock this morning, and after a bit of spinning we managed to come to a jolting halt and walked out unscathed.

I'm not sure if I'm permitted to post pictures yet, but if/when I am, I definitely will. The tail rotor's in shreds, well, what's left of it is, and the tail boom's all smashed up.

Here's why I feel hardcore, though: after establishing that our "rescue" floatplane could pick the other geologist and I up later on in the afternoon, we resumed our fieldwork. Hey, we had ground to cover, and with the heli down we had to really boogie to get everything done.

I'm exhausted now, but pleased that I finished my days work. Is it bad that while I was out traversing, one of my thoughts was "does this all deserve it's own thread on Plime??" Anyway, I figured I'd share my bit of excitement with Plime. It's not every day a Plimate walks away from a helicopter crash, eh?

I'm just amazed at how calm I was/am about it all. As we hit the rock, I saw pieces of the tail rotor flying around as we started spinning. I was thinking "oh, s**t, we're not crashing, are we?? We're totally crashing." As I braced myself for a rollover that (thankfully) never occurred, I was thinking how difficult the rest of the day would be without a heli to use. And after the fact, my first thought was exactly how I was going to execute the rest of my day without the essential helicopter. Everyone I've phoned is freaked out, and I'm just tired because I walked all day!

Wow! I am very happy you are okay. We don't really know how we'll react in a time of crisis until it hits. Bravo for being so calm about it all.

I've never been through a helicopter crash and can't imagine what that must have been like.

So glad to know you were able to walk away from it.

*man hug* well, not exactly a man hug cos you ain't a man but ya know what I mean. Glad you're still in one piece!

You're a bit like Indiana Jones but with a doo-dah instead of a winkie.

Seriously, glad you're well.

you are badass chinook...love your story, especially the part where you were unhurt.

Agreed, you are bad-ass!!

Glad you are ok

Damn Chinook, you're badass!
Glad you're okay. =]

Holy crap, you are a badass maple leaf.

"Chinook, the Badass Maple Leaf"

A great book title :)

Surviving helicopter crashes is so sexy.

Wow, so glad you're ok. You are the queen of Badass, indeed!

Holy wah! I've see many videos of rotorless helicopters, and they usually have really bad outcomes.
Gneiss to hear you were able to walk away from that one.

That is f**king hardcore Chinook, if I was you I would get a good bottle of scotch and drink up cause your still breathing.

In fact, I might just do that in honor of you

Glad you are ok, Chinook. Any idea how far off the ground you were when it happened?

I've been in two helicopter accidents myself and the funny thing is that you don't really get freaked out by it until you have time to sit down and think about what happened.

Getting out and carrying on with your work is the BEST thing you can do.

So glad the crash wasn't ugly and all you have is a good story to tell!!

Just out of curiosity - did your helo have a crew chief aboard or were you guys the only ones in the back?

And to think I was cussing when Excel crashed earlier on today.

Glad you're OK, Chinook, but think carefully about this - a few days of saying "Ooh, my necks a bit stiff" now could lead to a tasty insurance payout for whiplash later.

Uh, I just realized I said basically the same thing as Bingo...woops.

Bt's badass too...but we already knew that.

All my helo-ops ended well. But I used to enjoy tapping the new "Boots" on the shoulder with the Deadmans stick in bad weather.

WELL *I* cut my hand while cutting a bagel in two, with a huge knife yesterday.

I didn't have time to go get stitches as I had to be at work. It finally stopped bleeding after 16 hrs or so. I had to type with that hand and everything at work!!

I am going to have a nasty scar.

I guess THAT story pales in comparison to your "helicopter" story.

*note to self...never hold a bagel in the palm of your hand and cut it with the other hand with a huge serated meat knife. Ya know, the kind with the prongs at the end of it where you can poke the meat to serve it?

/kicks ground and mumbles "You win, you Badass Chick!"

holy jebus, woman!!! I'm so so so happy to know that you're ok *hugs*
wow!

For a second there I thought you said you cut your hand in two..ouch.

We were just landing, so we were a metre or so off the ground. That was a curse and a blessing - if we'd been higher, rock might have not been an issue, but we also wouldn't have had the other boulders to stop us.