The Navy has launched an investigation after video showing two pilots dunking a pair of $33million MH-60 Romeo helicopters into a lake was posted online. The video - taken by a stunned tourist at Lake Tahoe- shows the two helicopters skimming the surface of the water. One appears to lose control, spinning and crashing into the water in a near-disaster. But the pilot quickly regains control, pulling the aircraft from the water back into the air.
They were forced to land at a nearby airport to be repaired. The damage to the state-of-the-art machines - the Navy's newest helicopter - is estimated at between $50,000 and $500,000, according to local reports. The Navy has confirmed that the footage is genuine. The helicopters were from North Island's Helicopter Maritime Strike 41 squadron. Navy spokesman Lieutenant Aaron Kakiel said that though the footage only captures one helicopter crashing, both actually hit the water as they did not have enough hovering power to hold their position.
Now an investigation has been launched into the entire September 13th flight. The Navy would not identify the pilots or say whether they were supposed to be hovering over Lake Tahoe. A spokesman did say that the lake is not a normal training area for Navy pilots. They have been grounded until the investigation is concluded. Depending on the outcome, they could lose their flying qualifications.
Retired Navy jet pilot Steve Diamond said that there may have been more to the incident than meets the eye. 'Somebody has to be a total moron to do it in total view of tourists and in a recreational area, when everyone has a camera these days,' Diamond, who retired in 2002, he said. 'We don’t really have morons flying naval aircraft, it’s possible they were troubleshooting a problem, you don’t know... It’s easy to make a snap judgment, but there are other possibilities.'
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