Crew Walks Away From Horrific Crash

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Key Takeaways:

  • A helicopter filming for Top Gear Korea in Arizona crashed last week, an event captured on video by a local fan.
  • Both crew members on board survived the dramatic crash and walked away unharmed.
  • Their survival was attributed to wearing harnesses and helmets, as well as the crash-worthy design of the Vietnam-era Army AH1 Cobra helicopter they were flying.
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A helicopter slammed into the ground in a cloud of dust while filming for Top Gear Korea in Arizona last week, and the crash was caught on video (right) by a local fan. Both crew members on board, who were wearing harnesses and helmets, walked away from the crash. Steve Esparaza said he stopped filming once the aircraft hit the ground because he thought the crew had been killed. “I didn’t want to roll on what I thought I was about to see,” Esparaza told the local KSAZ news station. The helicopter, a Vietnam-era Army AH1 Cobra from the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation, was filming a speeding Corvette. The Cobras were built to be crash-worthy, which paid off for this crew.

After the crash, the pilot shut off the engine, and the two crew members climbed out of the wreckage. “The rigid air frame did a good job of protecting the occupants,” local police chief Joe Brugman told KSAZ. The names of the crew were not released.

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