| (9 October 2001, Switzerland) An 85-year-old pilot answering an insistent call to urinate, was killed by his own helicopter after he landed on a mountainous clearance near Steckborn. He had stepped away from the Ecureuil AS350B3 Helicopter and was "in the act" when the craft took off, knocking the pilot from the promontory.
What happened?
The pilot had left the autopilot engaged! He overrode it manually, and temporarily, before he stepped out, but after twenty seconds, the autopilot took control of the helicopter again. It was not equipped with devices to determine the location of the pilot, and whether the aircraft was, in fact, on the ground. To maintain course and airspeed, it moved the stick to the front and right. As luck would have it, to the front and right was where the ex-pilot choose to do his business.
The passenger managed to call help, and land safely. The pilot died from his injuries about a year later. |