Distractions

Another neat picture, huh?
Beautiful boat... Beautiful girls.
And it's not hard to imagine how it was taken-
The boat is zippin' along at 40 knots or so, with a helicopter... photographer half out the door, his camera click-whir-click-whir-clicking as he gets as many exposures as he can while the angle is right.

What's the pilot doin' while all this is goin' on?
Almost the same thing as the photographer...
He's watchin' the boat too, trying to keep the helicopter in exactly the right position so the camera guy can best get his job done.
Who's minding the store? What's in front of the helicopter?
What happens if the engine sneezes?

We know folks have more automobile accidents when their attention is divided between driving duties and talking on a cell phone.
How much more distracting than the cell phone is it to try to "fly formation" with a speeding boat while doing something with each of your extremities?

Now and then there's a tragedy. More and more we see those tragedies on video...
Helicopters crash spectacularly.

In this incident, the "beautiful girl" happened to also be an emergency room nurse, and risked her life by jumping into a fuel/water mix to attempt to save a life. Unfortunately, her efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

Flying helicopters is a complicated task. Using them as a tool to do the things we do with them every day, all too often, makes headlines.