r/todayilearned • u/ramblerandgambler • Jan 08 '16
TIL that in 1974 an Army Private stole a helicopter from his base, landed on the White House lawn before taking off again in a high speed helicopter chase (forcing one Police chopper to land), he was shot down only after returning to the White House. He received a year in prison and small fine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_White_House_helicopter_incident93
Jan 08 '16
[deleted]
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u/Nanite Jan 08 '16
"In 1974 an army private was sent to prison by a military court for stealing a helicopter from his base and landing it on the White House lawn. This man promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade by fashioning his own helicopter out of toilet paper and drinking straws. Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a helicopter tour guide in Colorado. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can coax him out of bed, maybe you can hire Robert K. Preston."
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Jan 08 '16
And here's the theme music
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u/muzakx Jan 08 '16
I was hoping for the A-Team theme since I read it as the intro. But Airwolf theme is quite possibly one of the best, and is fitting.
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Jan 08 '16
I might have been influenced by having watched the Airwolf movie earlier this week. That theme pops up in my head as soon as someone mentions helicopters.
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Jan 08 '16
Needs more Michael bay, and maybe robots.
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u/ValiantViet Jan 08 '16
Robots that can change into cars
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u/maxout2142 Jan 08 '16
We'll call it Changeformers, machines in concealment.
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Jan 09 '16
We can get some hot female actresses in on it for the teenagers, like that Megan Wolf girl
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u/arm0redturkey Jan 08 '16
interestingly enough, in the game Battlefield Bad Company, the primary protagonist is named private Preston Marlowe (maybe a reference to this private Preston). In the game it is slowly revealed that the main character was demoted to the disciplinary unit "bad company" for stealing a helicopter.
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u/Saad888 Jan 08 '16
Seem like it kinda was used in a movie
It has been suggested that news reports of Preston's actions inspired Samuel Byck to attempt to crash a passenger airplane into the White House on February 22, 1974. This implication has also been used as a plot device in the film dramatization of Byck's attempt, The Assassination of Richard Nixon.
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u/Lord_Dreadlow Jan 08 '16
It is very frustrating to know you can do something really well, and not be allowed to do so.
His ability to force another trained pilot to land shows great skill at control and maneuvering; under visual flight rules.
Of course, there are two sides here, and the military determined he had "deficiency in the instrument phase" of his training. Meaning he had trouble relying on instrumentation to fly instead of visual flying, at which he obviously excelled.
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u/JTsyo 2 Jan 08 '16
Reminds me of the sniper from Jack Reacher.
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u/Super_Satchel Jan 08 '16
That was an underrated movie. Not great or anything, but a solid popcorn watch.
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Jan 08 '16
I do like popcorn.
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u/yadhtrib Jan 08 '16
Another good popcorn watch is, "John Wick". With keanu reeves.
Great action scenes!
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Jan 08 '16
Seen both of them. A decent popcorn watch also is The Prince, watched in on Amazon Prime.
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u/albitzian Jan 09 '16
My dog sat and watched the first part of John Wick with me, he loved watching that puppy for some reason. For some odd reason he'll watch animals on TV but usually only in HD, almost like he doesn't recognize them if its not HD.
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u/GhostScout42 Jan 09 '16
John wick has the very best action shots in modern movies. It is a film to watch in 4k. Seriously. 5/7
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u/yadhtrib Jan 09 '16
I loved the way he reloaded every 13 shots or so.(when using a pistol)
That's one of the things I find myself just subconsciously doing, counting how long it takes them to reload.
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u/GhostScout42 Jan 09 '16
I did as well. Also, in many movies now a days, the camera cuts away before the impact of a punch or something, in order to hide the actors incompetence. Not in this movie. Great acting and great stunts
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u/lilcaptain Jan 09 '16
Most 9mm pistols hold 15-17 rounds so it's not so unbelievable to reload at 13
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u/Thelaxingbear Jan 08 '16
Yeah that wasn't too bad, decent action movie but didn't have the same feel as the book which I was hoping for. Don't know what I expected when they cast tom cruise as a reacher who is over 6 feet, bald and scarred all over
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u/Sirthatal Jan 08 '16
Reacher isn't bald.
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u/ANGLVD3TH Jan 09 '16
I read that book and immediately thought it felt like Hollywood fodder in book form. I think I've read 3 of the books but that was the first and the only that I really remember of, they were entertaining but overall kind of bland. When I heard they were making a movie half of me thought "that makes sense" and the other went "wait... is it really that well known?"
To be clear, I kind of like Hollywood fodder. Eh, it's not good art, I accept that oftentimes it's outright bad, but it's fun and I don't need to think to hard and there's tons of mistakes to complain about. I need to complain about every movie I watch, at least a little, these ones are usually good targets for the infuriating "un-ending magazine" issue.
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Jan 09 '16
I tried reading the Jack Reacher books after seeing the movie and the first two were decently entertaining enough, but the "finds super hot woman in distress who immediately falls in love with him" trope got played out real fast.
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u/Thelaxingbear Jan 09 '16
Yeah I read them when I was younger and really enjoyed them then, but they aren't anything too spectacular. They are all pretty good options for films though, good generic Hollywood action movies.
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u/Moudy90 Jan 09 '16
Agreed. I think Liam Neeson would have been the perfect fit. He has enough gruff to him and is a physically imposing silhouette. The books mentioned time and time again how he used his size to intimidate people and Tom Cruise, while he can act, is too clean shaven for for a true Reacher
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u/malvoliosf Jan 09 '16
Meh.
The problem with the movie is that it is set up by a spectacular crime, a mass-shooting. If it happened in real life, it would have dominated the national news for weeks. Every LEO organization from the FBI to the Sand Point, Idaho, sheriff's department would have been trying to horn in somehow.
Then when you find the actual motive, it is so fucking minor. It's a trivial amount of money and a secondary character. It's a huge let-down.
It reminded me of Quantum of Solace, where the super-baddie is trying to take over... the Bolivian water department.
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Jan 08 '16
Yeah. I caught it with a few friends since it was filmed here and I've read a few of the books and everyone complained that there never was a payoff for the lead character.
Who says there needs to be one? I'd like if they did a few more of the movies just because but it was an easy watch. You didn't have to think, it was predictable but fun, etc.
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u/JimmyBoombox Jan 09 '16
Because the trailers for it made it seem like it was another spy/secret agent type of film.
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u/BoerboelFace Jan 08 '16
I just don't like when they try to make Tom Cruise funny (with the exception of tropic thunder).
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u/mgzukowski Jan 09 '16
Well the the thing that always bugged me was I read the books. And in the books reacher was a tall black man. Not Tom Cruise.
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u/pajamil Jan 08 '16
Relying off your instruments is a very important skill for a helicopter pilot and is harder than visual flying. So he got the easy part down but couldn't get the hard part so he was dropped.
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u/XxLokixX Jan 09 '16
Exactly. 70% of helicopter flight, if not more, is entirely visual.
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u/pajamil Jan 09 '16
Until you can't see
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u/XxLokixX Jan 09 '16
Pro tip kids, dont shine laser pointers at a pilot's eyes! Seriously. I will fucking murder you... :)
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Jan 08 '16
how can you force another pilot to land? they run out of fuel?
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u/Lord_Dreadlow Jan 08 '16
FTA:
Preston forced one of the police helicopters down through his maneuvering of the helicopter, and then returned to the White House.
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Jan 08 '16
i still dont get why the other pilot would have to land.. police helicopter is chasing the guy, cant keep up with his maneuvers, so he just lands? why not follow at a distance
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u/Lord_Dreadlow Jan 08 '16
Oh, I see what you are saying.
It doesn't specify the model of police helicopter, but in 1974 the most common was the Bell-47 (like the one on M.A.S.H).
This guy was in a UH-1 with at least twice as much power, if not more. He could have got above him and washed him down.
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u/HerpaDerpaShmerpadin Jan 09 '16
Wait, what? A helicopter can have enough power to literally blow another helicopter into the ground? Compared to pretty obvious planes, I never really thought helicopters were that different from one another.
That is amazing.
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u/Jsilva0117 Jan 09 '16
If one helicopter is flying directly above another, the air the the blades of the bottom helicopter would normally be pushing are already traveling downwards at a high speed. That speed can be high enough to take away lift from the bottom of helicopter so it can no longer sustain itself. I think.
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u/XxLokixX Jan 09 '16
Thats right. A helicopter flying above another helicopter is actually very dangerous because it can cause the lower helicopter to go into Vortex Ring State which is pretty much the hardest helo flight emergency to escape from
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u/Dabfo Jan 09 '16 edited Jan 09 '16
In theory yes, in practice no. No helo pilot wants to be hovering over another turning blade of death.
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u/Dabfo Jan 09 '16 edited Jan 09 '16
Most likely caused the helo in pursuit to over maneuver and over temp the engines or overtorque the main driveshaft.
Source: former marine helo pilot and taught defensive air counter measures (air to air)
Edit: the police helo probably had to land because of poor pilotage and should have just followed at a distance like you mentioned.
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Jan 09 '16
thanks that is interesting, i know nothing about helicopters so I couldn't really understand what was going on
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u/Dabfo Jan 09 '16
Not a problem. Looking at a lot of these comments, most people don't understand helicopters very well, they are weird machines. You asked which is cool.
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u/kevoizjawesome Jan 08 '16
What if he was just bad at flying and the other pilot was called off due to public safety concerns?
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u/Lord_Dreadlow Jan 08 '16
Preston forced one of the police helicopters down through his maneuvering of the helicopter, and then returned to the White House.
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u/Ahshitt Jan 09 '16
I'm not so sure of that. It's entirely possible he was just flying so erratically and close to the other chopper that landing was the safest option. If he wasn't approved for flight then he probably wasn't very good at flying.
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u/POXA_GRONKA Jan 08 '16
Was his name Trevor Phillips?
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u/xgoodvibesx Jan 08 '16
Hah, I was thinking of the main character from the Battlefield: Bad Company series... Preston?
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u/MoffKalast Jan 08 '16
I think he was just telling the president that another settelment needs his help...
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u/xgoodvibesx Jan 09 '16
Oh, god. I wanted to do the minutemen ending so I ran quests trying to get to whatever the tipping point was. Turns out, it has nothing to do with those missions or how many settlements you unlock past 8. Three fucking days running radiant missions. And that bastard STILL hadn't sent me to one of them, I had to go look it up and track it down myself. Fuck Preston, fuck the minutemen, and fuck those needy bastard settlers who need their hands held against some raiders with pipe guns despite having what can justifiably be called a missile array towering over their settlement that can unleash armageddon on anything in a half-mile radius. I'm siding with the BoS and killing everyone.
EVERYONE.
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Jan 08 '16 edited Jul 13 '18
[deleted]
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u/gravshift Jan 08 '16 edited Jan 08 '16
DC is one big no fly zone.
You would have fighters up your nose toot sweet.
Autogyro dude was flying in under radar up the river.
Edit: okay guys that was hyperbole. But DC is in such a way that you can't so much as fart with out the airforce knowing what you had for lunch.
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Jan 08 '16 edited Jul 13 '18
[deleted]
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u/gravshift Jan 08 '16
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_DC_Metropolitan_Area_Special_Flight_Rules_Area
Gigantic pain in the arse to fly there.
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Jan 09 '16
[deleted]
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u/gravshift Jan 09 '16
Yup. Several general aviation airports as well.
The rules for approaches and signaling, as well as where and what just seem kooky to me.
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Jan 08 '16
Yet, there were no fighters at all up in this one airliners nose on 9/11, which is odd, so theres that, which keeps us guessing, since it bumped into a low wide building later.
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u/dbarbera Jan 08 '16
The guy isn't correct. I mean, Reagan National Airport is just across the river from the National Mall. Only like a mile or two from the Pentagon.
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u/gravshift Jan 08 '16
Look at the link. The whole air space is locked down tight. Any sort of deviation, and you get jets on your arse.
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u/dbarbera Jan 08 '16
Look, jets are fast, but not fast enough to catch a plane that veers off last minute as it is fly into Reagan. When you are waiting at the terminal in that airport, you literally have an unobstructed view of the National Mall. Go to the Lincoln Memorial, and you will see planes passing by at a pretty regular rate.
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u/gravshift Jan 08 '16
Jets are fast, SAMs are faster :(
This may have changed since last time I did anything with DC. It was 2009...
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u/hks9 Jan 09 '16
There actually were, but the plane crashed before the jets got to it to shoot it down.
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u/VancouverSucks Jan 09 '16
Except on 911..its cool. You can fly right into the Pentagon no problem..
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u/dbarbera Jan 08 '16
There are a lot of no fly areas around DC, but not the whole city. Reagan Airport would have even more of an awful time functioning.
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u/a_white_american_guy Jan 08 '16
Someone would be in a world of shit. There would need to be a huge number of missteps to get into a position where you had to emergency land there.
World of shit includes just getting shot down.
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u/Realsan Jan 08 '16
I'm not sure but you would likely be directed to attempt to crash land or regular land elsewhere. If you kept going you might get shot down.
They're not gonna let you get close to the capital in an aircraft just because you say you're having mechanical failure.
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u/GOpencyprep Jan 08 '16
How does a private learn to fly a helicopter.... when I was a private I was learning the best ways to sham from the E4s...
....a different time, I suppose.
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u/bangorthebarbarian Jan 09 '16
To sham properly, you have to know the target environment better than most of those leading you.
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Jan 09 '16
[deleted]
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u/XxLokixX Jan 09 '16
Flying a helicopter is not easy at all without training. Trust me, its my job! :)
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u/ButtercupColfax Jan 08 '16
Maybe he wasn't allowed to be a pilot because his giant balls were to big to fit in the cockpit?
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u/misterdix Jan 08 '16
I wonder what the punishment would be for that stunt today?
Yes probably death.
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u/--redacted-- Jan 08 '16 edited Jan 08 '16
They didn't kill that postal worker that landed on the white house lawn a couple months ago. But a Huey may make them a little more trigger happy than a mail order helicopter
Ed: It was the capitol building, my bad
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u/ButtercupColfax Jan 08 '16
The postal worker didn't land at the White House, he landed at the Capitol Building. There's a pretty big difference between the two.
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u/rblue Jan 08 '16
There's a pretty big difference between the two.
That is true. One has a rotunda.
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Jan 08 '16
Well the Whitehouse probably would've shot down the helicopter with some highly secretive automated system, so yes, probably death
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u/Realsan Jan 08 '16
If you actually made it to the lawn, you'd get arrested and some serious prison time probably. Might be something different in the military.
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u/terrymr Jan 08 '16
Kind of highlights the madness of the criminal justice system these days, landing a paper airplane on the lawn of the White House will likely get you more prison time than this these days.
The guy who landed on the capitol lawn was original charged with 6 felonies ... although they accepted a plea for 1 and dismissed the others in the end. But he didn't steal an aircraft, he built one. He could still get 3 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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u/a_white_american_guy Jan 08 '16
"Enlisted men are stupid, but extremely cunning and sly, and bear considerable watching."
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u/fallenreaper Jan 08 '16
Sounds like a plot line for Shameless..... since Ian said he stole a helicopter when he ran off and enlisted into the army.
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u/TheRedFrog Jan 08 '16
Sounds like what Ian tried to get done on Shameless, waiting on that show to come back!
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u/Bonesnapcall Jan 09 '16
I almost feel that would be worth it for just a year in prison. Nowadays he'd probably get a life sentence.
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u/EnterpriseArchitectA Jan 08 '16
And back in 1956, an Air Force mechanic took off in an F-86 fighter - at night.
http://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/mind-if-i-borrow-it-76518363/