A helicopter spinning out of control and going down sounds like a nightmare.
But just imagine this uncontrolled helicopter is falling into the mouth of an active, gurgling
volcano!
Unfortunately, this isn’t a tale created by my vivid imagination or a new episode of
a disaster TV series; it’s a true story that happened more than 20 years ago.
As soon as Craig Hosking was tall enough to reach the pedals, his father started to teach
him how to fly a helicopter.
No wonder at the age of 16, the teenager became one of the youngest licensed helicopter pilots
ever.
Besides, he was just as skilled in flying different kinds of airplanes, seaplanes, and
gliders.
Eventually, Hosking became a successful aerial photographer who also helped to make feature
films and TV series.
So when he was asked to participate in the shooting of a new big-budget movie about volcano
eruptions, he readily agreed.
There were two other members on this little team: freelance cameraman Michael Benson and
freelance film technician Christopher Duddy.
The crew's helicopter was the Bell 206B-III.
Equipped with 2 cameras, the helicopter was supposed to do filming runs of the Kilauea
Volcano on the Hawaiian Islands.
In particular, the filming team was interested in the Pu'u O'o vent.
Yeah that’s what it says right here: Pu'u O'o.
Although there was no active lava flow in the vent, an orange pool glowing 120 ft (36
m) down in a pit on the side of the crater, as well as the associated smoke plume, was
enough to provide all the excitement the filmmakers needed.
It was Saturday, November 21, 1992.
Everything went as planned, until the helicopter started its third pass over the volcano.
Just a couple of seconds before the crew reached the center of the crater, things went really
bad, really fast..
First, Hosking noticed that the main rotor output started to decrease.
Then, almost immediately, the rotor caution sign lit up.
It seemed like the helicopter was having serious technical problems.
In any other situation, such an experienced pilot as Hosking still could’ve flown over
to the outside of the crater.
But, unfortunately, in this case, the walls surrounding the helicopter were so steep that
such a maneuver would have led to a fatal rollover.
It happened lightning-fast.
In his attempts to save the day, Hosking accidentally got into a cloud of volcanic steam and smoke.
The pilot tried to leave it by auto-rotating the helicopter down to the bottom of the crater.
He knew that if a helicopter loses all its engine power, the machine can still land safely,
because the air will be moving up through the rotors.
And it probably would’ve saved their helicopter as well... if the main rotor hadn't struck
the crater's rock wall and separated from the airframe.
After that, things went completely awry when the helicopter spun out of control and crashed
inside the volcano, about 150 ft (45 m) below the crater's rim.
However, it must’ve been a lucky day for the filming crew locked inside.
Not only did the helicopter narrowly avoid dipping into a hot bubbling lava pool, but
all three men survived and had no serious injuries, except for some bruises and minor
cuts.
But the situation was still extremely dangerous; the men were stuck inside a volcano that was
emitting poisonous gases, like sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
Flammable and explosive, they’re fatally toxic for people.
The only thing that saved the filming crew members was that they crashed in a part of
the crater where fresh air was leaking inside over the rim.
After choking on the noxious volcano gases for several hours, the filmmakers decided
to make a run for it and started to climb up toward the crater's rim.
But the interior walls crumbled so easily that every single move could cause a rock
slide.
Hosking returned to the helicopter and, miraculously, made the radio work by connecting it to a
spare battery.
After the park officials were informed of the crash, a daring Fire Department helicopter
pilot flew inside the crater low enough for Hosking to scramble aboard.
But the other two team members were in a much more dangerous situation.
The problem was that they’d decided to continue their climb, and when the helicopter arrived,
they were stuck on a high ridge, about 80 ft (24 m) away from the rim.
Obscured by the cloud of dense gases, they had to be left behind.
Duddy and Benson spend an agonizing night listening to the lava gurgling not far beneath
them, breathing in toxic gases, and trying to come to terms with their fate.
However, on Sunday afternoon, Duddy couldn't stand it any longer.
In despair, he decided to continue the climb.
Benson, who had found a secure 2-by-4-ft (0.6 by 1.2 m) crevice some 50 ft (15 m) away from
his companion, replied that it was too risky and chose to remain where he was.
Duddy left alone.
You can imagine Benson's shock when just a couple of hours later, he saw a body that
careened past him and disappeared in the gurgling lava.
He was sure it was Duddy who’d lost his footing and plunged into the abyss.
Luckily, that wasn’t the case.
Twenty-seven hours after the crash, at 2:30 PM, Duddy reached the rim of the crater!
He was immediately taken to the hospital but was released one day later.
As for the thing Benson had taken for his colleague's body, it was a survival package
dropped by the rescue team who’d hoped that it would miraculously land next to the cameraman.
By Monday morning, Benson had been inside the crater for two days, without food or proper
sleep, terrified and exhausted.
Even worse, all the rescue attempts failed due to the heavy rain and fog that covered
the volcano.
Finally, at 9 AM on Monday, during a tiny break in the weather, helicopter pilot Tom
Hauptman noticed Benson before the fog closed back up almost immediately.
At least now it was clear where the man was.
Hauptman lowered his helicopter into the vent and used a 150-ft (45 m) rope with a net to
fish the cameraman out.
With no visibility whatsoever, the pilot had to rely on his senses to rescue Benson.
That's why, when he felt the rope tighten, he pulled it up, and there was the cameraman!
Benson was taken to Hilo Hospital intensive care unit in stable condition and was treated
for chemical pneumonia caused by the inhalation of the toxic gases, as well as dehydration
and exposure.
The cause of the accident could’ve been the volcanic gas, which caused a partial loss
of engine power.
Only thanks to the pilot's skills, the filming crew members got away alive and with no serious
injuries.
However unique, this helicopter crash wasn't the only case when people survived a fall
into a volcano crater!
- In 2007, a group of people was exploring Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano in Tanzania,
when a porter of the group fell into a crevice filled with lava.
Amazingly, the man not only survived, but also climbed back to safety on his own!
His legs and arms were burned, but he was alive.
What saved him was the extraordinary cold lava of Ol Doinyo Lengai.
Well, it's probably not what you would consider "cold," but believe me, with a temperature
of 950 degrees F (510 degrees C), the lava was exceptionally cool.
Instead of the red-orange flowing liquid that probably comes to your mind, this cold lava
is black and slow moving.
That's why the man managed to throw his pack down and stand on it until he finally climbed
out of the crevice.
- Another man fell as deep as 2,000 feet (610 m) into the crater of Mount St. Helens and
remained unscathed!
In 2008, John Slemp, along with his son and a friend, went up to the crater's rim with
their snowmobiles to enjoy the breathtaking view.
At one moment, an overhanging shelf of snow under Slemp's feet broke loose, and the man
dropped 200 ft (61 m) down.
However, when he tried to climb back, the snow fell apart beneath him again, and he
dropped another 1,500 ft (460 m) down.
When Slemp was rescued by a helicopter team just a couple of hours later, the only injuries
he suffered were a hyper-extended leg and several minor cuts.
- Then there was the woman who, during a Mount Batur hike in Bali, suddenly fell off the
platform straight into the crater.
She was lucky that those around her had a lightning-fast reaction.
Seeing that she landed about 130 ft (40 m) below the platform, other tourists formed
an arm-in-arm human chain that reached the woman and pulled her out.
Besides, they managed to keep her alive until the medical team arrived.
Have I forgotten about any other people falling into volcanoes and surviving this blood-chilling
experience?
Actually I think the blood would boil.
Let’s not split hairs.
No matter.
If so, let me know down in the comments!
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