Blades of Fortune, by Joe (Knoxville, TN)
(type: amazing ... a first person account)
Ed: The danger in this story may pale in comparison to what's going on in the Middle East these days, but during peace time it's the kind of situation you don't expect to end up in.
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I was a military police officer stationed in Panama for a couple of years during a stint in the US Army. At one point I was deployed to Equador for a special assignment, Military Observer Mission: Equador, Peru (MOMEP). The base there is isolated from the developed cities nearest to it, and all rest and relaxation outings required helicopter lifts over a treacherous range of Andes mountains. We were flying back from one such trip in two black hawk helicopters when they hit a cloud bank about halfway through. It isn't safe to fly through cloud banks in that sort of environment because of the mountains that might be on the other side. We turned around and tried a different valley, but that was also blocked. We then decided to fly back to the city, but were unfortunately surrounded on all sides by that point. Not good.
The pilots decided to land in order to save fuel, then try again once the clouds lifted, and they set down next to a waterfall. We had to use iodine tablets to purify the water and our food supply consisted of half an MRE per person.The climate at that elevation was basically tundra and the little wood we were able to find was soaked through, so we were forced to try to sleep in the choppers. Sleeping sitting up inside a helicopter is almost pointless.
The next day was the fourth of July, and it continued to rain the whole day. That night we shot off pen flares to "celebrate." Again, no sleep. The next day, continued rain. Finally, at about four o'clock in the afternoon the following day the rain broke and the decision was made to leave now, since pilots should not fly on little sleep and no food, and therefore we would just have to wait for rescue if we waited.
The first black hawk lifted off and started down the valley. My helicopter took off and started circling the landing site, and I later found out that we had lost control and nearly crashed. The pilot regained control, however, and we headed home. As our elevation lowered we saw that the other chopper had landed beside a dirt road because of low fuel. As we came into land nearby, we felt a jolt and heard a loud noise. Once on the ground, everyone looked at us in disbelief. I looked up and saw that there were large chunks torn out of the rotor blades -- we had hit a power line on the way down. Usually when that happens the line wraps around the rotor and the helicopter drops like a stone. Two near-death experiences in one day.
The remaining chopper flew in from the base and we went home. I was and still am glad to be alive.