I want to make this clear from the get-go: the penguin survived the helicopter crash. All of the people in the helicopter crash survived as well, but I know you were worried about the penguin. But so many more questions remain about the January 19 helicopter crash on Bird Island (of course) of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Like, why was a penguin there in the helicopter? Why was it so unsecured? Was it also insecure and, if so, can we reassure it of its cuteness even though it caused a major aviation incident?
The Independent has more:
The penguin created a “dangerous situation” when the box slid off a passenger’s lap upon takeoff and hit the pilot’s controls, an investigation by the South African Civil Aviation Authority found.
The pilot of the Robinson R44 Raven II was unable to recover control and came down from a peak height of 15m. The main rotor blades struck the ground, wrecking the four-seat helicopter. No one on board was harmed during the accident, including the penguin.
The South Africa CAA in its report blamed “the lack of secure containment for the penguin” as being responsible for the crash.
I don’t know, maybe penguins really weren’t meant to fly.
In original images from the South African Civil Aviation Authority we can see the lil’ guy is not firmly secured. He’s more of, just kinda hanging out in a cardboard box with holes in it, but hey, at least there are holes in it. There isn’t a total lack of responsibility here, just a lack of the kind that prevents flightless aquatic birds from crashing your chopper. So his widdle feet, which were in a box, hit the controls. Which is just as good.
Artist rendering of the rowdy penguin in question
It sounds like the three passengers on the helicopter were a group of scientists going up to survey the tiny island and the penguin was going back for science reasons and not illegal pet reasons. Bird Island is a nature preserve, after all, and provides important breeding grounds for all sorts of roosting seabirds and fur seals. Scientists keep a close eye on populations of Cape gannets and cormorants. The chopper pilot apparently completed a “threat assessment” found the new passenger cute as a button, and started up the engine. It wasn’t the sweet little penguin’s fault in the end, because the pilot didn’t take into account the box in his risk assessment — an inexcusable oversight. Boxes kill people every day. Apparently “It’s cool I’ll hold on to it,” is as reliable with bird-rescuing scientists as it is with a baby in the front seat of a AMC Gremlin and the box slid into the pitch control lever, sending the helicopter back down to Earth.
Everyone made it out okay, and next time, I’m guessing the penguin will be required to be in a proper crate before taking off. I don’t know how that would have helped things, but maybe you can’t hold a crate on your lap like it’s a birthday cake. I understand the desire to keep it up front, for it is a cute little guy, and he needs to be held close and fed an in-flight mackerel (or beer and noodles).
