Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Category: Helicopter Crashes

Since we were children we've heard about conflict between opposites such as good vs. evil. This is a story about - quite simply - big and little. We all know the Biblical story of little David who brought down big Goliath with a little pebble hailed from a sling-shot and of course who can forget the Little Golden Book story, The Lion's Paw by Jane Werner Watson where the big lion was incapacitated due to a little thorn in his paw? We all know how big humans battle very annoying little mosquitoes, little ants, little gnats. . .the list goes on and on.

From Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, comes yet another "big vs. little" story. A pilot who has flown helicopters for 30 years was spraying a cranberry marsh this past Friday when the tail rotor of his crop-duster "smashed" into the ground as he was working at an altitude of only four feet. The pilot was unhurt but the Deputy at the scene said the chopper was "pretty banged up".

This is one helicopter crash the NTSB has no need to investigate - we know what caused this big chopper to fall. . . it was an "Apis mellifera". . .commonly known as the (little) honey bee. It seems the bee flew into the cockpit, stung the pilot, diverting his attention just long enough for him to crash.

Investigation complete.