From April 1st 2006: Latest Victims Not Even Flying The Damned Thing

ANN’s April 1 “April Fools” Special Edition Classic

The trouble-prone Mini 500 homebuilt helicopter has claimed its latest in a long line of victims: newlywed married couple Vince and Edna Larkin, who were walking out of Wendell's Restaurant and Lounge in Mokelumne Hill, CA Thursday evening.

"We had just sung some karaoke, had a few brews, that sort of thing," said Vince Larkin. "I was holding the door open for Edna -- hey, it's our honeymoon, it's the least I could do -- when suddenly, I hear this creaking noise. I look up... and that's when the helicopter fell on me."

The helicopter in question is a Mini 500 homebuilt helicopter, placed over the main entry to Wendell's several years ago.

Now something of a local legend, no one is sure how the helicopter ended up on the roof -- but the most commonly accepted story is the previous operator managed to barely land on the roof after an unspecified engine failure, then simply counted his blessings and walked away from the scene, never to be heard from again.

The Mini 500 (seen below in happier times, albeit perched somewhat ominously) fell on Larkin just as his wife walked through the door. Vince Larkin absorbed most of the initial impact, with the left landing skid catching him on his right arm, resulting in a dislocated elbow. His wife suffered minor cuts and bruises.

Witnesses say the Larkins were lucky it was a Mini 500 on the roof, and not a Schweizer or Robinson.

"That thing was already breaking apart on the way down and it was busted all to smithereens by the time it hit them," said one witness.

The NTSB is on the scene to look into this latest incident involving the troubled Mini 500, which has been involved in the better part of 100 accidents/incidents, resulting in more than a dozen fatalities -- so far.

Investigators are focusing on bird droppings found on the main rotor blade which may indicate a medium to large bird landed on the blade, causing the blade mount to fail under the added stress. The resulting shift forward of the copter's center of gravity likely tipped the helicopter onto the hapless restaurant patrons, according to the NTSB.

FMI: Wanna Buy Wendell's?