The normal hazards of weather are plenty enough to deal with in the aviation biz... but sometimes the natural foes we face pale in comparison to some of the 'unnatural' ones. A T-18 SportPlane (file photo, below) found this out the hard way, getting caught in the rotorwash of a passing helo and paid the price for it's unfortunate proximity. So... in addition to all the natural hazards we face, please keep an eye out, ALSO, for the man-made "Gotchas" that may occasionally creep up and catch you unawares.

** Report created 4/12/2004 Record 12 **
IDENTIFICATION
 Regis#: 64EC Make/Model: T18 Description: T-18 TIGER
 Date: 01/23/2004 Time: 0953
 Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Serious Mid Air: N Missing: N
 Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
 City: COMPTON State: CA Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT ON DEPARTURE ON RUNWAY 25R, GOT CAUGHT IN ROTOR WASH AND WAS SPUN 180 DEGREES AND FLIPPED OVER, COMPTON, CA

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
 # Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 1 Min: 0 Unk:
 # Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
 # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: UNK
OTHER DATA
 Activity: Unknown Phase: Take-off Operation: General Aviation
 Departed: Dep Date: Dep. Time:
 Destination: Flt Plan: Wx Briefing:
 Last Radio Cont:   Last Clearance:
 FAA FSDO: LOS ANGELES, CA (WP23) Entry date: 04/12/2004

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov