A Black Hawk hawk helicopter – as in, the same model helicopter of Black Hawk Down infamy – had to make an emergency landing in Watsons Bay after it clipped a boat on Sydney Harbour.
The helicopter was part of an anti-terrorism exercise which involved a bunch of balaclava-clad dudes rappelling off choppers and onto harbour boats, presumably to defuse some kind of mock hostage situation.
The leadup to the incident, where the Black Hawk’s propeller clearly hits the mast of a Captain Cook Cruises ship at around 2pm, was all captured in a TikTok, because it is 2021, after all.
@spinking__Another day fishing in Sydney Harbour ##foru ##army ##navy ##ohno♬ original sound – FlickTok
Keep in mind, the ship wasn’t actually taking tourists around the harbour. It had been leased by the defense forces as part of the training exercise, although one would imagine they’ll now have to fork out a hefty repair bill.
The chopper then quickly skedaddled out of there and made an emergency landing at Robertson Park in Watsons Bay, followed by the other helicopter.
“I noticed there was another helicopter circling and it did a few sweeps, three or four sweeps, and then it did finally land,” a witness told The Daily Telegraph.
My footage of the Blackhawk that had to make an emergency landing at Watson’s Bay after clipping a boat in a training exercise yesterday – pretty crazy to see while having lunch!https://t.co/5H09izrukh#blackhawk #blackhawkdown #sydney #watsonsbay #ADF pic.twitter.com/dXLZ3PPAoC
— Diana DJ (@DianaDJ7) February 18, 2021
Locals were understandably stunned. It’s not every day a giant killing machine suddenly lands in your local park.
When other Sydneysiders caught wind of the event, they came out in (relative) droves to gawk and the undeniably fascinating spectacle of seeing a Black Hawk helicopter up close and in the flesh metal.
The Blackhawk at the centre of the drama over Sydney Harbour is now our city’s newest attraction. @RuthWW #9News pic.twitter.com/xQlGBlU7m3
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) February 18, 2021
In the end, the military-exercise-gone-wrong ended up being a quirky spectacle for kids, which is kind of cute.
Nobody was actually injured in the incident, but the damaged Black Hawk will remain in the park overnight to be inspected by engineers in the morning.
