No wonder he was so mad! Pilots reveal mystery lever tourist was yelled at for grabbing in helicopter cockpit was the ROTOR BRAKE – and could have sent passengers plummeting to their deaths in Grand Canyon
- An enraged pilot is seen yelling at a tourist after she grabs a critical mechanism in the cockpit which was later identified to be the main rotor brake
- Footage shows the woman’s hand reaching for the lever as she is seated in the passenger seat of the helicopter
- The eight second clip – along with two other similar videos – have garnered more than 2.7 million views, with many sharing their exasperated reactions
Pilots have revealed that the mystery lever a tourist was yelled at for grabbing in a helicopter cockpit was the main rotor brake – which could have sent passengers plummeting to their deaths in the Grand Canyon.
Video footage shows the pilot yanking the woman’s wrist off the lever and than pulling his microphone away from his face as he waves his finger incessantly saying, ‘No!… No!…that will kill us.’
The woman, who has not been identified, is seated in the passenger seat of the flight deck as she places her hand on the rotor brake shortly after take-off.
‘If the rotor brake is pulled it stops the rotor blades from spinning which is ‘absolutely catastrophic,’ a member of a California fight school told DailyMail.com.
‘The spinning blades keep you in the air,’ they explained. ‘Every button and every switch in the cockpit has a purpose and should only be touched by the pilot or an authorized crew member.’
The woman’s hand is seen clutching on the lever in the helicopter as she is seated in cockpit
The enraged pilot reprimands her and is telling her: ‘No, that can kill us’
This clip shows the pilot seated inside the helicopter mid-air with a viewer comment asking: ‘Why’s she in the co-pilot seat?’
The eight second clip shared by TikTok user @cherlin95 that she posted on Wednesday along with two other similar videos from the trip have garnered more than 2.7 million views, with many sharing their exasperated reactions.
It is not yet known if the TikTok user was one of the tourists on the flight. It also not known what day the incident took place and which tour company arranged the flight.
The social media site has since added a warning to the video that reads: ‘Participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.’
Unlike in an aircraft, it is normal for a person to occupy the passenger seat of a helicopter since the goal is to fill every seat.
The person, who also viewed the TikTok video, said they would not have been comfortable in that situation and thought the pilot’s reaction to the passenger seemed appropriate.
On Friday, a separate video showed the excitement taking place before the fiasco. Footage shows a partial view of a male passenger holding his cell phone and filming during take-off – with ‘Alright …. Woo hoo,’ heard in the background.
One viewer wrote: ‘Why’s she in the co-pilot seat?’
‘Jesus, that is the rotor brake,’ someone else said.
Stunning aerial views of the Grand Canyon overlooking the Colorado River
Another who was horrified by what they saw wrote: ‘Whoever is in the right seat definitely doesn’t respect how fast things can turn to tragedy touching aircraft controls.’
Many said that if they were the pilot they would have turned back and landed after the incident, with one commenting: ‘Nah tour be over after that.’
The video also went viral on Redditt, with many giving feedback on the frightening ordeal.
‘If you don’t know what something does (especially in potentially dangerous situation), don’t start pushing buttons or pulling levers,’ someone said.
Another person, who wrote that they were a former helicopter mechanic,’ said: ‘I just let out the loudest ‘oh f***’ when I saw the hand on the rotor brake…and it looked like they tried to get past the pilot’s hand holy f*** dude people are stupid,’ they wrote.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the TikTok user, but have not yet heard back.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk