This is What Happens When You Lose Your Tail Rotor!

This helicopter pilot is lucky to be alive after riding out this harrowing crash. From what we can tell, the chopper was being used to lift the cross off the top of this massive church steeple when the cable somehow snared the tail rotor, locking it up instantly.

With no control over the rotation of his aircraft, the pilot was simply along for the ride, and what a ride it was! Spinning wildly, the chopper plummeted to earth a few hundred feet from the church, where the pilot had to be dragged from the smoldering wreckage by good samaritans who ran to help. We aren’t told the extent of his injuries, but the fact that he survived the impact is a miracle itself.

Hopefully he recovered and was able to fly again, though it certainly wouldn’t be in this craft, which was most likely a total loss after such a devastating impact.