702
An LAPD helicopter claimed to have ID'ed protesters from above and threatened to "come to your house"
(www.motherjones.com)
this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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A well kept helicopter is a reliable machine as any other, but it's true that it's probably a civil heli with extra cop stuff, ergo easy to down with some fuckery.
Even a well maintained helicopter is a safety nightmare.
I started my career in aerospace at a company that makes helicopter engines and later I became a search and rescue mountaineer/EMT in a county with more helicopters used for SAR than anywhere else in the US. We beat it into our new members "never pass up the opportunity to turn down a helicopter ride".
The mountain rescue association tracks member fatalities and injuries. Helicopter accidents are, by a large margin, the leading cause of line of duty death in mountain rescue, and we spend only a couple percent of our time in them.
Indeed, one of the few mainstream machines where the smallest of human error, mechanical failure, or hell just bad unexpected weather, doesn't just bring you to a stop, but a deadly rapid unplanned disassembly. Screw that.
This simply isn't true. When well piloted and maintained, an helicopter is a safe and sound machine, not a LoonyTunes gag.
Less safe than driving per mile traveled, which is arguably not very safe.
Good thing fireworks are easy to find this time of year.