Video of helicopter / boat photoshoot.
 

No, this is not a video of the tragic accident in Florida.

This is a video pulled from the internet, showing what it`s like for a helicopter to shoot photos of a powerboat in action. I found this both amazing and disturbing. I can now fully understand how the horrible accident in Florida could have happened. This video also gives me more respect to the incredible talent of the chopper pilot and to the boat driver, during these photoshoots.

This is amazing.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...eoid=623181680

That is unreal! Zero tolerance for error for sure.

Everybody Needs To See This Video

I can honestly say that I have NEVER seen a helicopter operating in such close proximity to a boat during any of the poker runs I have attended. This may have been a photo shoot for the manufacturer of the boat. I can tell you that is some impressive work by the pilot but the potential for disaster is extremely high. In a poker run that is run in open waters, that boat could easily jump high enough to take out that chopper. Video is very impressive, though!:ernaehrung004:

That's definitely pushing the envelope. Takes some serious skill and ballz to fly like that. :cool:

I hate to admit this...but back in the day, we did that maneuver frequently.........

T2x

You gotta get the shot! People would be amazed to know how certain shots made it to paper or film if they saw the shooting take place. :cool:

That appears to be irresponsible at best. Still, it's very cool looking, and the height of the camera and distance may make things look a lot closer than they were.

You have to wonder what effect the downwash off a chopper would have on the aerodynamics of a Cat running over a 100.

I Dont Care How the Important The Shot Is I can Tell You After 1500 Races & 30 Years Of Flights The Freeze Frame Video Crew Does Not Fly Like In Any Way Shape or Form . Freeze Frame Video Inc. www.freezeframevideo.net

Surprisingly enough, not that uncommon.

When this envelope pushing happens during a race, it is the reason the race officials are asking race control to "TELL THOSE PRIVATE CHOPPERS TO BRING IT UP"

Very sad thing in Sarasota this week. Our condolences to the families effected.

This helicpoter / boat photo shoot crash occured at LOTO in 2005...fortunately no injuries.

http://www.mswp.dps.mo.gov/news/NRDe...0&ID=N07050050

I'm not "up" on the lastest and greatest technology but I would think that today's cameras could get a great shot further away than that!

This was in a post earlier today- someone resurrected it from a while back

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...d.php?t=160647

This photo was in it. I saw the interview where Bob Teague said there was no contact with the helo. The photo was from the news report on the crash.

Posted on Fox's website this afternoon...

VENICE – Jennifer Zuknick remembers seeing a wall of water moments after a helicopter crashed in the Gulf of Mexico right in front of her.

"As soon as the helicopter hit the water, I closed my eyes and thought, 'here it comes, you think you're going to get hit by something,'" she said.

Zuknick is a nurse who was doing some modeling for a speedboat magazine when the helicopter carrying the photographer taking pictures of her and the boat suddenly spun out of control.

"The helicopter was in front of us taking close-up pictures and the front leg of the helicopter hit the water—and immediately all we saw was a wall of water," she said.

The accident happened about two miles off of Casey Key, about six miles northeast of Venice in the Gulf of Mexico.

After the crash, Zuknick and the driver of the boat, Bob Teague, jumped in the water to help the three men in the helicopter.

"I jumped in and swam to the first guy I saw, he was face down…so I turned him over so he could breath. And then Bob jumped in and helped with the other guys, and unfortunately, we didn't have good results with them," she said.

Thomas Newby of California and Mark Copeland of North Carolina were both killed. The pilot of the copter, Mark Watters of California, survived, but was seriously hurt. Watters is listed in fair condition at Bayfront Medical Center, but sources say he may have to have his leg amputated.

Federal investigators were back out on the waters Wednesday, trying to determine what caused a helicopter to collide with a speedboat, crashing during a magazine photo shoot on Tuesday morning.

Witnesses say a skid on the bottom of the helicopter caught the water while photographing a speedboat at close range, and the aircraft flipped over. Three men, including two photographers, were onboard at the time.

"The helicopter was flying in front of us, and something apparently went wrong, and it went into the water," said Bob Teague, who was behind the wheel of the boat.

Teague said the helicopter was doing a photo shoot for Powerboat Magazine when the accident happened.

"They came a little too close to the water," explained sheriff's office spokesman Chuck Lesaltato.

Deputies say Teague and Zuknick may have helped save Watters' life. Zuknick also happens to be an emergency room nurse. She jumped alongside Teague and helped pull the men to shore.

When Zuknick got to shore, she was completely covered in fuel and had to be rinsed off. She attempted to perform CPR on one of the victims, but her efforts were unsuccessful.

Teague said they were speeding across the Gulf, the way so many crews have done before, when the helicopter hit the water.

"The helicopter was flying in front of us and something went wrong and it went into the water," Teague said.

Miami-based investigator Jose Obregon says divers will spend the day in the water on Wednesday, trying to recover pieces of the copter.

"Once the recovery, the wreckage has been recovered out of the water, we'll have the manufacturer look at it and see what we can come up with," said Obregon.

The preliminary report should take between five and seven days, with a full report on the crash taking possibly as long as two years.

Authorities say the Federal Aviation Administration has taken over the investigation into the crash.



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That is crazy right there. I co-piloted Angel II before and we had very strict rules as far as distance to the water and boats. Not this old boy!

First, Bob has said he his debris from the crash with the port sponson of the skater after the helicopter went down and while attempting to avoid (which he did) a collsion with the helicopter (AFTER it was going down). Bob also said the helicopter did not come in contact with the boat prior to hitting the water and that everything was going good until the helicopter fell like a rock (mechanical failure).

Second, yes, the video looks dangerous and there's always danger when doing these photo shoots. Remember though, this is a closed course at Parker strip (Az.), low to no wind, dead calm water and it was shot early in the a.m. when the temp is lower.

Third, remember that you are watching a ****ty video and that it could just happen to look a lot worse than it is with angle, speed and quality of the video. I'm not saying he's not low but it just may look a LOT lower than he actually was.

Fourth, Mark is an outstanding pilot. He and Tom were like left and right arms of the same body. Mark knew exactly where to put the helicopter for that perfect shot for Tom. I've been running at 60+ under them in the ocean with 3-5' swells where I looked up and could see the blue of Tom Newby's eyes. Felt like I could touch the skids of the helicopter. This was a shot from that run. Look at the angle of the shots. You can't get that angle with any type of zoom lense made. Running almost even next to the boat requires the need to be low with the helicopter.

I'll say it again. God speed to those that lost their lives in this tragic accident and heres to a quick recovery for Mark.

Hadn't heard that- thanks for the clarification. It's a good thing that someone like Teague was driving or their may have been more casualties. That had to be close.

That's the thing with a helo- altitude has little to do with the outcome when you have rotor failures. An engine can fall off of a fixed wing and it's still got some glide left in it. Not so with a helo.

That looks dangerous as hell. No shot is worth losing your life over. I can tell you if a chopper photographed me that close, he wouldn't want to land where I can find him. I've been on several poker runs, and fun runs where a helo was taking pictures, and never saw anything like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QliQyNj3Mjs

here's a link to the raw Miami Vice movie footage that was floating around when the movie came out.

This shows you how close and what angles helos use when shooting pics and videos.

[QUOTE=thisistank;2269100]First, Bob has said he his debris from the crash with the port sponson of the skater after the helicopter went down and while attempting to avoid (which he did) a collsion with the helicopter (AFTER it was going down). Bob also said the helicopter did not come in contact with the boat prior to hitting the water and that everything was going good until the helicopter fell like a rock (mechanical failure).
[QUOTE]

Video on one of the Sarasota stations yesterday showed the skater with a very large (3' x 4') piece of what looked like white sheet metal and yellow insulation hanging off the front of the sponson. All I could think of was, wow, that must have been very close, considering the speed they were probably moving. It was bad enough, but probably an eyelash from being much worse.

I see a lot of people talking about race and poker run coverage like this. No, you wont and shouldn't see flying like this at either event. Go to any photo shoot for any boating magazine and you will see flying like this. And remember, that is either Johnny Tomlinson or Bob Teague in that boat, Mark flying and Tom taking the pictures in that video. Years, and years of working together with all people at the top of their game in their field and in complete communication together. I wouldn't expect some helicopter to come swooping down on you like this at some poker run, no.

and just remember, wiether you're 10-20 feet off the water or 100 feet off the water, if mechanical failure happens, you're screwed!

First...Prayers and sympathy for All invovled with this tragic accident.

Flying Magazine said in an unrelated story: The above is speculation, thought of the above and the story on a coast guard rescue copter crash in Flying. To be short I agree with Tanks posting(s) on the subject.

And people are worried about a certain fountain jumping a cruiser wake?????? Get real.

Cuda.

I had the pleasure to meet with Mark Watters and Tom Newby last year at our Poker Run. This shot was taken from one of our Helicopters of Mark & Tom. The shot Tom was taking eventually ended up on page 91 of the October 06 issue. You can see there was lots of distance between the Helicopter and the boat. They never flew as close as this video showed.

Tom was at our awards dinner with a lap top full of fantastic pictures. He didn't have to bring these shots to dinner he wanted to. He had a group of Poker Runners around his table all evening looking at the days pictures. A truly nice person who loved what he was doing. He will be missed.:(

Dan

My post had nothing to do with the event in Sarasota yesterday. I was just expressing my opinion on getting that close to shoot a picture.

Cuda,
I realized you were commenting on the Video. I posted to show that on a Poker run they are not getting as close as the video shows. The video looked scary! If it's a rehearsed deal that would be different. I know I wouldn't want a Helicopter that close on a run

H2O,
Fantastic pictures!!!
Dan

That looks like the river(i.e.parker strip).Thats crazy,not very wide and not very straight!

I am not defending the practice, and in viewing that footage realize the error of our ways. The truth is that the only way to get a head on shot is to fly like that or use a robotic camera mounted below the helicopter ( which is costly and rare technology). Back when we did it the cats were heavier and slower so the prop wash had little affect. Today it's definitely a whole different dynamic, and far more dangerous.

Based on the fact that the cat in the accident hit some debris, this is probably similar to the circumstances that occurred two days ago in Florida.

Maybe we should create helicopter safety guidelines..... I'd be willing to help.

T2x

Both the NTSB and FAA are investigating, and once they have the facts, we will have the
facts. If necessary, they will make recommendations.

We (high performance & race boat owners) are a small tightly knit family, and this
tragedy has affected us is many different ways. I realize that we all want to do something,
so here are my two suggestions:

First, some kind of a long term fund to help the familys who lost loved ones, that OSO
members and various groups (clubs, fun runs, poker runs and so on) can contribute into.
We have plenty of lawyers and investment types on the board to see that this is set up
properly.

Second, give the professionals at the NTSB and the FAA time to understand exactly what
happened (here in SW Florida, they have already said that they have a pretty good idea of
that happened), and lets see what recommendations, if any they have.

TRUE LOOK AT FREEZE FRAME V. There one of the best out there and there tapes and pics are great. its called digital zoom lens. chit my pics from a boat at the fallriver poker run came out good. theres no need for a chopper to be closer than 50ft and that place looked tight like a canal of some type to run over 100 at parker . when I was younger I use to fly with a friend 50ft off the water or beach in the winter maybe closer hes gone now with 2 other friends[ plane crashes ] which is sad but the thrill of being able to almost touch the water and to take pics was cool. like I sad it was winter and on MV island another friend also caught a wing and cashed on a lake here in mass 20yrs ago , I myself wish I was good enuff to take pics out of a bird for a living in races or pokerruns the thrill is got to be great , but maybe there should be a min height for them to fly at a shoot out or event, BLESS, Good speed to the lost souls art

The Dvds From The Point Pleasant Race Are

Dedicated to The Memory Of Mr. Tom Newby
September 11,2007

Jeff & Eve Gerardi / Freeze Frame Video Inc.

Dan, here is another shot from 2006 run.

As a boater whom enjoys the low flying helo's at poker runs I will never complain about how low a pilot chooses to go for the shot, as for the people in the aircraft, they choose to be there and most likely enjoy the ride.
As a pilot who has taken a few low flying jobs (Crop Dusting) you only go as low as you feel comfortable doing (Safety is at 10,000ft). It does not matter if your going under a powerline or flying over the swells in the ocean... things happen, mistakes are made and miscalculations can be tragic.
Reading through this post one thing is for sure. Everyone who has been under these two men during a photoshoot have been greatfull and say that they did a wonderfull job. That is a legacy they can be proud of.
Still very sad to hear and my heart goes out to friends and family.

Amazingly close.:snide:


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