‘That will kill us!’: Video captures panic as tourist reaches for chopper lever
That was whirly stupid.
Terrifying video captured a helicopter pilot stopping a tourist from grabbing a lever that would have sent the chopper plunging into the Grand Canyon during a recent flight.
“No! That will kill us!” the pilot is seen yelling at the clueless woman, who seems to think the cockpit controls are playthings, as he grabs her wrist, footage posted by SWNS shows.
She was apparently about to yank the lever that controls the rotor brake, which stops the all-important propeller from spinning.
The problem is that it can only be used on the ground — not hundreds of feet in the air, as was the case with this chopper during a sightseeing tour of the famed Arizona landmark.
Dutch tourist Cherlin Bijlsma, 27, was aboard the helicopter and captured the horrifying clip.
”We watched a safety briefing video so they must have not paid attention,” she said.
“When the pilot scolded her, I looked at her in between the seats and I saw that she smiled at the pilot,” Bijlsma said. “It was an awkward smile. I’m not sure if she said anything back to the pilot. I did hear their voices on the audio, but I didn’t hear them at that moment.
“The lady who grabbed the lever was there with what I think was her daughter,” she added. ”It looked like she didn’t understand English very well.”
After the chopper landed safely, Bijlsma said, her friend thanked the pilot for saving their lives.
”The pilot laughed while shaking his head, he said something like, ‘Oh my, oh my,’” she said.
