Emergency responders in Arizona were conducting a fairly routine helicopter rescue after an elderly woman suffered injuries while hiking near Piestewa Peak in Phoenix when the basket stretcher began to spin wildly out of control.
The terrifying scene was captured by a Fox 10 news helicopter as the rescuers tried to pull the stretcher into the helicopter. Officials explained that a line meant to prevent the stretcher from spinning failed, as did their initial attempts to get it to stop.
Once the helicopter began to move forward, the stretcher started to stabilize, and they were able to bring the woman safely into the aircraft.
Her injuries were not disclosed, but officials did say that she did not suffer any additional injuries as a result of the mishap.
“She has multiple points of packaging and connections all over her body,” Phoenix Fire Captain Bobby Dubnow said. “So she suffered no ill effect from that spin other than being a little bit dizzy.”
The issue has only happened twice over the last six years, and recruits are trained on how to deal with it.
“It’s very rare,” Phoenix Police lead air unit pilot Paul Apolinar told reporters. “I can tell you it’s something that occurs infrequently. It’s not something that occurs very often.”