U.S. Helicopter Drops Load of Aid Supplies Into Indonesian Mall

[seriousstan]

MEDAN, Indonesia (AP) - A load of relief supplies slung under a U.S. military helicopter fell and slammed into a shopping mall in the Indonesian city of Medan early Wednesday, local officials said.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.

The Navy was investigating and cooperating with local officials, said Navy spokesman Lt. Billy Ray Davis.

North Sumatra provincial government spokesman Eddy Sofyan said local authorities want U.S. forces to stop transporting loads of aid, which average 500 pounds, in nets below helicopters.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB8PSV2L3E.html

[Renew Deal]

1. Collateral feeding?

Bad joke. I know.

[TacticalPeek]

2. .

:)

[punpirate]

3. Just can't get out of the...

... bombing routine, I see.... :shrug:

[Fridays Child]

8. "Dude..."

...could be heard inside the helicopter cockpit, at the moment of impact.

/sarcasm

[DustMolecule]

4. Like the klutzy rich kid (who doesn't know how to do anything)....

Stop 'helping' PLEASE!!! We can't suffer any more of your 'help'.

Yeah! America.... Rah! :eyes:

[rodeodance]

5. fish and bread from the ski (said to have happened-in the Bible)

[Psephos]

6. Give it a rest

Jeezus, they're trying to help out with food drops and hospital runs. The pilots are given coordinates, which they fly to for their drop, then come back for another...and another...and another. The whole scene is one of chaos and disorder; errors from the flight planners are inevitable, as the drop plans are based on sketchy accounts and conflicting information.

Why would anyone gloat over this? It's a humanitarian mission. Save your ammo for stuff that matters.

[DustMolecule]

7. Well, I'd surely like to hear of some 'success stories' .....

....and I'm SURE that flight planner errors occur...isn't that why people have COMMON SENSE?!?!

(i.e.:

Don: We're supposed to drop this load of food/medicine to near the hospital.

John: Roger

Don: We're at the coordinates.

John: Hey Don, does that look like a hospital to you? I see a Pizza Hut sign, and a Seibu, and a Marks & Spencer.

Don: These are the coordinates. Double checked them me-self. Drop a-w-a-y......hey, if we're 'wrong', we'll never get in trouble b/c <ta-dah> WE JUST WERE FOLLOWING ORDERS!!!!!

[Bhaisahab]

13. good take!

:)

[Turley]

14. What do you know

if anything at all, about sling-loading? What do you know, if anything at all, about running 24/7 logistics operations?

Ever done it? Have the slightest clue what it's like? Know what the margin for error might be?

If you want to hear more "success stories" you may want to take note that we have been able to put more rotary aircraft in the box than any other country on Earth and, in the words of Jan Egeland, those choppers are "worth their weight in gold".

There's a success story there alright, but only for people who don't gloat over each of our failures.

[jeff5]

10. Sounds More Like

the load broke loose than it was "dropped" at the wrong coordinates.

[NorthernSpy]

9. ooops...

It would really suck to survive the wild waves, only to die under 500 pounds of bottled water...

[NV Whino]

11. Geez I hope they didn't hit the Starbucks n/t

[OneBlueSky]

12. this is somehow just so appropriate . . .

dropping American relief supplies into the symbol of American consumerism run amok . . . a shopping mall . . .

[neweurope]

15. Precision bombing - know that already.

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