Navy pilots lose flying status for dip in Lake Tahoe
By Jeanette Steele, San Diego Union-Tribune
Two Navy instructor pilots have been stripped of flying status and two student pilots will have to repeat training because of a September incident in which they dipped two $33 million aircraft into Lake Tahoe while trying to take photos for the squadron’s Facebook page, a Navy official said Wednesday.
The Sept. 13 incident became public because a bystander caught the event on video and posted it on YouTube.
The video shows the two MH-60R Seahawk helicopters trying to hover low over the lake. In the video, one apparently loses control for a few seconds, dips its landing gear in the water, then pulls up. Both aircraft actually went into the water, though the footage only captured one, Navy officials have said.
Both helicopters were damaged and had to be flown to a Lake Tahoe airport for repairs, which cost $505,000.