The Chernobyl Helicopter Crash: The Untold Story
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- Опубліковано 26 чер 2024
- Few moments in the story of the liquidation of Chernobyl are as well known as the helicopter crash of October 2nd, 1986. It is to the point that, in the HBO miniseries, the creators of the show moved it from October to April 27th just so they could include a recreation of the shot in their show and use it to highlight the dangers of flying into the radioactive emissions emanating from Reactor Four.
I want to talk today, this video releasing on the 37th anniversary of the crash, about the victims of the crash, and to bring their story to light.
Timestamps:
00:00: Introduction.
00:37: From One Battle to Another.
02:39: Cup-2.
05:54: Down in Flames.
09:11: Eternal Legacy.
The people who went into Chernobyl knowing that they were going to die because of the job they had to do were true heroes and deserve much more recognition and respect from us all
I think, they were dumb. Why would a normal person go to die?
Would you personally, go to die for someone's mistake and negligence?
@@edmundssondors3738 it was different time, they were not dumb, they were either going to die in Chernobyl, or die by death squadron.
@@edmundssondors3738if it ment the lives of everybody in Europe and asia, id like to think i would.
@@edmundssondors3738 turd alert
@@edmundssondors3738 They did it to save others. Its what heros are made of. If you don't understand that its you who sre dumb. Or maybe just broken.
R.I.P to those men and every other person who went to Chernobyl and passed away because of radiation poisoning
Went..? They were ordered to go and had no choice
You're not very intelligent
Funny thing about the military...always giving orders.@@Rosco-P.Coldchain
Don't forget that they were Russians; AKA persons that were addicted to invading and slaughtering the people in neighboring countries, while referring to it as merely a "Special Military Operation"... and also threating the rest of world with Nuclear Annihilation at least three times a day!
@@Rosco-P.Coldchainoh my God no way? I thought they went because they had a choice. Just to find out they still WENT. IT DOESNT CHANGE Whether forced or not. They still 'Went'
About 20 years ago, a nurse friend treated one of the pilots here in Seattle, where he came for a marrow transplant for the leukemia that resuted from his Chernobyl flights.
i wonder if hes still alive
@loganmatteson189 He is not. As I recall, the leukemia returned fairly quickly.
I wonder why he didn't get that done in communist Russia? Why tf he come to God's country when they all think Russia is so great
I have Aplastic Anaemia and I know the struggle. I have had several blood transfusions and infusions. The bravery of these men is certainly more than I could ever muster. It's hard to hear their families were not compensated until yrs later in which time they must of struggled financially on top of the very painful grief they had to endure.
The liquidators were better man than most of us will ever have a chance to be. RIP all of them.
Almost all liquidators died of old age, only few of them died of acute radiation sickness, yes you can actually tell radiation induced cancer from regular cancer, we are not in the 1850s anymore. Because of their bravery, almost no one got cancer from the Chernobyl incident.
No they weren't, they propped up a brutal murdering soviet dictatorship, one that's trying to revive itself today with the help of useful idiots in the US congress.
@@SMGJohn This sounds like some soviet bs...
@@mindfuqq
A simple Google search would revealed to you how wrong you are, but here you are, offended, emotional, instead of looking at things factually, you are using basically religion at this point, make belief.
@@SMGJohn I just don't get why so many people think that all the liquidators were somehow suicide squads that were forced to work at Chernobyl by the Soviet goverment with no protection and no chance of survival. Apart from the initital firefighters everyone who went to Chernobyl knew what kind of danger they were facing and they were all given protection gears and had their exposure time controlled.
What a terrible day, in the USA we only saw this footage years later, but it wasn’t any less horrible. These guys were very brave and it’s a shame they were serving in such dangerous circumstances.
None of these people had a choice, so bravery did not matter. Just like the soldiers where were digging under the building.
This could happen in any country including USA so you might have to go yourself one day..I didn’t see any politicians or leaders helping out did you..?
@@Rosco-P.Coldchain Most, if not all were “volunteered” by the Kremlin.
@@Rosco-P.Coldchain I think the Soviet leaders at the time called on their best soldiers as technicians like those helicopter pilots or soldiers shoveling the reactor roof. Having the whole politburo getting irradiated wouldn’t have helped anyone.
@@thomasfx3190 I disagree I think society as a whole would be a better place without politicians and world leaders as they only want war war and more wars…Take Nuclear power for instance, the world will one day regret inventing anything Nuclear ☢️..It will destroy us all one day you just watch
Another great upload, keep them coming, i am in awe of these people who made such a sacrifice to try to rectify the problem, we should never forget.
I remember Chernobyl very well. I was stationed in West Germany in 1986 and it was very sobering to see our chemical weapons guys outside taking air and ground samples…
The liquidators saved the European continent. I wish they could be honoured accordingly instead of hidden away and living poorly. This is a shame.
No they didn't? This is a pretty funny popular myth. They cleared the power plant grounds so that the site could be safely manned again and the other reactors put back to use.
@@zolikoff I mean, hindsight is 20/20 and thanks to the internet its relatively easy to learn the actual truth instead of the twisted up stories perpetuated by popular UA-camrs and HBO.
BUT, back then, people probably thought this was a much greater issue and the actual "grunts" who did these dangerous jobs were either doing them because they didnt have a choice, or just because it was they felt it was the right thing to do.
Regardless, it was still a huge sacrifice by many, regardless of politics, downplaying or fearmongering.
@@vavra222 « thanks to the internet it’s relatively easy to learn the actual truth instead of twisted up stories » and you known the next sentence is gonna be either batshit insane conspiracy or just wrong and debunked many years ago
They probably did and there isn't a monument to them anywhere and everyone knows the levels of cover up on their health and numbers affected that went on. I read that when the Mayor of Kiev? found out the true levels of radiation in the air he shot himself. He had ordered a big parade and public holiday go ahead in Kiev knowing there might be a radiation problem I think it was, or their second city...no one really knows how many were affected.
Yes let's give everyone an award... its almost like they they stormed the beaches at Normandy and saved all of Europe from a guy with a funny mustache. Oh wait... dumb russians melted down their nuclear plant and they were forced to clean it up. They didn't save the world lmfao
The liquidators are true heroes. So many have been forgotten.
It was communist Russia. They were just people, forced to go clean up their f up. They couldn't afford anymore bad pr with western countries so they grabbed some boots and gave em shovels. It took a week for communist Russia to address it to the world
Another very well done video, but I have to politely disagree on some things. In "Chernobyl" episode 2 where they recreate the crash, you can actually see the main rotor hit the crane cable, followed by the helicopter crash as the rotor disintegrates. If you watch very closely, you can see the hook/cable of the crane fall down with the helicopter. In the accompanying official podcast that goes with each episode, Craig Mazin, the HBO series creator, explained why he moved the crash. Not only had it to do with the limited run time of each episode, he absolutely wanted to honour their sacrifice when he learned of it. The only way he could do that is to move the crash to an earlier date.
At the same time he has also said it was done to highlight the dangers of the radioactive cloud. In the original script for the series, on pages 37-39, we read how the pilots were immediately sickened by spending about 30 seconds directly over the core, apparently becoming so disoriented that at one point they just start spinning in the cloud and then "tilting oddly as if drunk," according to the script, they fly straight into the crane.
The whole point of it was to highlight how dangerous the radiation was, and how spending less than a minute in it would incapacitate the pilots.
@@thatchernobylguy2915
*Looks through the script
Yep, you're correct.
Ahhh, OK, that makes sense to me. :-) Also, the director's sentiments on the plane crash victims & their sacrifice was very beautiful & touching... 😢 ❤
@@swokatsamsiyu3590Well, that doesn't mean the contents of your main comment are incorrect. :-)
@@thatchernobylguy2915Oh, OK, so in addition to the information listed in OP's main comment, the director had SEVERAL reasons for portraying the crash on a different date. That's not a problem. :-)
Never knew this aspect of the cleanup... Nice presentation! Clean and to the point!
It is insane that once one quits watching Hollywood movies he / she learns of real heroes and that life neither just nor unjust, it is just life. Thank you for honoring these men. Greetings from Central Europe.
Thanks for making a video about this it’s really interesting and a sad untold story
My new favorite channel. Been listening to the history of Chernobyl for like 12 years now and it's what got me into nuclear topics and this is the first I'm hearing of this
Thank you for covering their story. I've watched a number of videos on Chernobyl and never heard of this crash until now.
Those men must've known their lives were going to be cut short when they saw the damage to the reactor building. They did a job nobody should have to do and made the ultimate sacrifice. They are truly heroes.
Salute to all the helicopters pilots who perished fighting Chernobyl. It's odd that the Cup formation was ordered to re-group after one of the two crashed. The surviving pilot was probably thinking 'how the heck can we re-group' ?
@@holysirsalad Do you realize that Cup 1 was ordered to hover over the exposed reactor forever ? He was unable to regroup with Cup 2, because Cup 2 had crashed.
@@BigElCat Ah indeed, I misread what you wrote
Yeah that's bizarre...
@@holysirsalad It happens quite frequently; conflicting directives. It sucks when you're in a life threatening situation.
great video, you earned a subscriber. RIP to all of the people who did these heroic acts
Those men were our enemies in the Cold War, but no one can deny their bravery and sacrifice.
As disastrous as Chernobyl was, it showed a human side to the Soviets we hadn't seen before or been allowed to see.
As an ex-military veteran, I salute their outstanding efforts.
You don't need to blindly see them as "enemies" simply because your goverment disliked them they are people, great people who risked their life for the greater good god knows what would have happened if these brave men didn't put their effort to contain the horrors that occured at the radioactive zone
@@thecommunistloli1042 I will always stand against communism for reasons of my own.
I was used as a pawn by the organs of Apartheid back in my youth, and I don't like Right-wing politics at all either, but I have seen and experienced the African version of communism and loathe the unfounded belief that communism is the answer to mankinds ills.
Communism is simply a vehicle to gain power through terror, and maintain control through subjugation.
Capitalism isn't much better, but at least you wear better clothes and listen to better music while thinking you're free.
Winston Churchill said something like "Capitalism isn't perfect, but it's the best we've got."
He wasn't far wrong there.
@@robert-trading-as-Bob69The USSR was no more Communist than Germany was Socialist during WW2, true communism is just a unproven theoretical set of principles admittedly at this time idealistic for example the realisation that ownership no matter what is temporary and thus need for monetary exchange are unnecessary and eventually the removal of top down governments. Obviously this is highly unlikely to ever be achieved certainly not in our lifetime. I suggest you take a look at Prof Richard Wolff talk on Democracy in the workplace.
@@bettyjones2614 Thanks for the advice, I'll go with the whole 'Commie Bastard' thing still, and misquote Churchill who said "Democracy isn't perfect, but it's the best we've got..."
Hey, you had to be a member of the Communist Party to get anywhere in the Soviet Socialist Republics, so 'Communist Swine' it remains, I'm afraid, even if it was just the tool they used to gain power through terror and intimidation.
I second betty’s recommendation , robert. Just because North Korea and China use the word democratic in their countries ‘ names does not make it so. Same the thing for countries that claim or claimed to be communist. Communism, unlike capitalism, has not really existed on a large scale. I think professor wolf is quite clear, intelligent and interesting. At the same time we can say China does have some communist elements. These elements however are not authoritarian and oppressive elements. Rather they are the largely successful efforts to lift the largest human population out of poverty ever. You may argue that authoritarian and oppression are or were necessary to accomplish this feat, but I don’t think this is the case
The Chernobyl series focused completely on the radiation effects when they showed the crash. They showed the crane cables getting hit but all dialogue was about the dangers of radiation as the helicopter crashed and even after. They framed the crash like it was completely caused by the radiation and the crane was just something it crashed into after the helicopter was completely doomed. It is nice to see the true story behind that crash.
Yes, "trickery" for the narrative -- good to know the truth, however an excellent series by HBO
@@Pyrolock I liked the series too. Following the series with some commentary that clears up where artistic license was used would help viewers learn the real history without spoiling the entertainment.
Yea as much as I love the show, parts are sensationalized. There's really no evidence the radiation had anything to do with the crash. Much more likely he just couldn't see the unmarked, practically invisible cable.
Those men are still heroes, and they weren't being reckless fools flying right into a dark cloud of radioactive smoke. They still signed up for a job that probably meant the rest of their lives would be painful and cut short. They're absolute heroes. No need to make up stories about them.
yes I agree -- my impression from the show was that radiation caused the helicopter to break up, when it was something much more prosaic -- they flew into a cable.
Beautiful video, thank you 💓💐
Your channel is the equivalent of Anomalous Dugout but in a different universe, where there was only 1 accident.
Brilliant. I'm binging on your vids, hard.
Thank you for your informative and respectful report.
While I’ve seen the footage through the years, I never knew the story of the pilots and what happened. Again thank you.
Thank you so much, I always was interested in learning about this incident.
Great documentary m8
Thank you for sharing this
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I knew that the crash didn't happen during the first days of the disaster. Then when I thought about it, that's all that I knew about it! This was an informative video that held my attention. Thanks! 😁
Well..russia want to make everything look good,so then world thanks them not hate hehe
Remarkable heroism in the face of unimaginable disaster
Sad.... I always thought that the exposure to the radiation caused the Helicopter to crash. I never knew until today it was due to the Helicopter blades becoming tangled in crane cables!
Thanks you..good video. RIP to all the people who died trying to help at Chernobyl.
when I saw the tv series I missed the fact that they struck the cables. I assumed the helicopter broke apart due to material fatigue caused by the radiation.
Thanks for clearing that up for me!
I thought the same .
Same
I figured the pilots would get sick before I ever thought radiation ever did anything to the helicopter, i figured something happened to the pilot. Hitting the cable makes sense though, sucks.
😂😂😂 what!? 🤦♂️
Very sad RIP to all on board the Helocopter and those who died from exposure very brave men and patriots
This whole disaster started two days after I was born, so I feel a strange connection to it, and a special appreciation for everyone who tempted fate for the safety of others.
Thanks!
Thank you to all the people who worked to render Chernobyl as safe as they could after this terrible accident! The world truly owes you a debt of gratitude! I was a kid on the other side of the world when this happened but nuclear disasters have the potential to kill all of us so I truly thank those who risks and sometimes gave their lives to minimize my exposure to whatever radioactivity may have come here even though my government was and has once again become quite belligerent towards the governments in that part of the world. I only wish my government would remember that some things will get us all killed and are bigger than some stupid power game that most of us around the world are nowhere near rich enough to play.
😮 Good video
Citing the deaths as multiple bone fractures so the families got no compensation at first...so typical
Soviet leaders didn't give a crap about those pilots
That is sweeping statement when this situation wasn't about choice unlike certain other situations whereby people are placed at risk for unnecessary wars fought for financial profitability
Not sure any leaders give a spit about their "pilots"
Why didn’t they use cement pump trucks with a mixture of sand, boron, and adhesive concrete? Instead of helo drops? In mean they had cement pump trucks back then right?
@@bettyjones2614"unnecessary wars thought for financial profitability" luckily Russia fought only unnecessary wars without any financial profitability.
The sad thing is, yungkinds son would be about the age that now he could be dropping bombs on ukraine. Does anybody know what career path he followed? He is mere months older than i am. Crazy how long it's been yet it is still on peoples minds.
I watch stuff everyday about this. But I’m especially binging on the 38th anniversary today. I hope all the men and women who passed found peace, as well as their families.
What song is playing in this vid background? Thx
I always wondered where exactly it landed and how they cleaned it up as well
I also wonder where the remains were put. Are they still stored somewhere? Once decontaminated, they should put all the debris that remains back together again and display the remains of the heli at a museum - would be a great monument for the bravery of the liquidators.
Awesome video,
I remember being at school in 1986 when this occurred, it was quite frightening to think that there had been a significant nuclear accident in Russia, bearing in mind that the Cold War was still going on.
These men that helped to seal the reactor after the initial explosion, should have been made national heroes, I suspect that most of them lost their lives either doing so or shortly after given their exposure to something that most of us never thankfully will.
The whole world learned something that day.....
I was 9 years old when this happened in Chernobyl. I remember watching it on the news with Ronald Reagan. It was such terrible disaster and I am so sorry for all the lives that were lost in the beautiful city of Pripyat was lost to time! I live in the states and I really felt bad for that country!
...and the Russians are tormenting that region again today. Madness.
@@gdutfulkbhh7537 I'm really sorry to hear that because it's such a beautiful country out there!
Another incident of heroism is a incident of a Soviet nuclear submarine that had leak in the nuclear containment area one guy volunteered to go into the containment to stop the leak knowing he would die he went in and closed the valve saving the ship and all of his comrades and died within a couple of days of severe radiation burns another point how about all of the brave soldiers in combat will dive on a grenade to save their brothers
Good job for clearing up your mess.
My deepest condolences to the fallen helicopter
Yes..that was well helded and almost new ):
Huge respect for these Soviet working class men.
I adore the people of that time, brave men fighting the battle to rescue the continent. I can still hear the prophetic words: every generation has to experience its suffering. And then it must find peace with it. It is heartbreaking that so many had to suffer. But it makes me proud, that I was able to listen to their stories. Those who did not make it will not be forgotten. They may rest in peace.
This was a good tribute to those men 👏
Saw this on the HBO series but the true story Heartbreaking
Great video
The world deserves to honor every person involved with Chernobyl's accident. It could have been so much worse, for the entire world, if they had not done what they did.
You mean the first responders and the ones who cleaned up the accident, right?
what piano music please played?
A lot of brave young men sacrificed their lives, to save the lives of countless others, and to save the European Continent and peoples. It's sombering that when we see footage of the early efforts, and later, that most were already walking dead men, or have died since. Due to their Heroism, they weren't Ukrainians, Soviets, or enemies. They were Noble Humans, brothers, dacrificing all for Europe and the Planet 🌎🌍 God Bless them all. 🙏🕊️
I was stationed in Aschaffenburg Germany from 85 - 87, I don't remember ever being told about Chernobyl or any kinds of testing.
➡ In the last second of the video, behind the reactor is a big hole, is that where the helicopter crashed ? Can you see that hole behind the cheminée ?
Rest in peace brave souls.
Dumb question: why not launch the materials into the hole? I'm thinking modified artillery shells with no explosive, or even slinging sandbags from a trubuchet. Sure it'll kick up dust, but more than dropping loose sand from a helicopter? If you miss the core, you're still spreading the items around the contaminated area.
To this day, wire strike is the number one killer of helicopters in flight. On the ground, it is the tail rotor and unaware people.
i never thought that the bodies of the liquidators in this helicopter were returned for burial 😮
The "small Siberian city of Chita" has a population of nearly 350,000. If it were in the UK, it would be about the 15th-largest city in the country.
What was mixed with the sand?
Let’s not forget those who died , those who saved us all .
Rest them in peace...
30? He looks 15. May God rest all their souls.
My respects to all of those who volunteered to go on 'one way missions' into the Devils lair. Those who got close to the exposed core - ALL knew they would not live after doing their duty and going back to base. The whole incident was a horrific accident that should not have happened, leaving the core exposed overheating then exploding. RIP to all those who died.
Did I miss this, did they recover the bodies?
A proper tribute
That whole ordeal was so sad
Very well done… thanks for the video
Do you consider making another of those "half life" video about Aleksandr Akimov?
It is planned on my schedule, but I cannot confirm when exactly. I believe it will be sometime in the near future.
I can't get over the fact that all those guys wearing paper masks while flying over the reactor, and the guys on the ground wearing them as well. Those masks literally did nothing for them. Those men likely didn't realize at the time they would become heroes for liquidating that reactor. They saved countless lives in the aftermath.
The Story of the Russian pilot reminded me of the first US civil MediVac pilott. Like the Russian, he survived the dangers of flying a helicopter in combat, only to be killed flying a helicopter under peaceful conditions... at home.
I always wondered what happened to the actual wreck
Superb that you've covered this. One of the reason I won't watch HBO's Chernobyl is all the things they've changed just for the drama. It's disrespectful. I like actual documentaries. That memorial is great. Subscribed.
Show was actually very respectful. In later years I've never seen so much respect to fellow russians, and in the final episode there was a chronicle when they showed the things how they was in real life and told exactly what they've changed.
While i think that the HBO mini-series was excellent, i also thought that its presentation of the crash was confusing. Yes, it did show the fatal damage of its violent encounter with the cable. But why did that happen?
I wondered if some sudden physical or mental impairment due to radiation radiation might have led to that encounter. Or perhaps radiation-induced avionics failure. But i did not think that a flight-plan or pilot error was meant to be implied.
So, it seems to me that this was muddled by the movie.
As the event happened later, during the "liqidators'" efforts (?), if that event had been properly placed later, it would have made clearer that radiation was not the culprit.
So it seems to me that accuracy was sacrificed for drama, leading to a confused interpretation about the actual risk of radiation for that flight.
I believe the director actually spoke to this point afterwards, it was intentionally 'misplaced' in the timeline of the show due to time constraints. I also remember that it was presented as though there was pilot error due to acute radiation poisoning...
Somewhat ironic that all of these docudramas produced to reveal the disastrous results of incompetence actually still continue to hide even MORE incompetence!
There is no impairment. Don't believe hollywood lies. Radiation doesn't work that way.
aa
Now the sons of these great men are killing each other in a senseless fratricidal war..............madness ☹
Great Video about a Group of real heroes! 😎
Some perhaps only redeemed. They fought in Afghanistan before, remember?
I believe it's difficult to truly judge anyone in that position considering the massive propaganda and mis/disinformation they would have been subjected to
I was 11 years old, when this happens...then in ex Yugoslavija...R.I.P Heroes
I’m curious how they couldn’t see that. Yeah the cables were invisible, but the boom of the crane couldn’t have been invisible also. Just climb vertically until you don’t have any more crane booms above you and you’re clear of all cables regardless of direction.
All those globs of molten material oozing through the shattered cooling system are the result of these material drops. It's uncertain if there was any real benefit, but I think there probably was, as it kept some of the dust that would have otherwise been spit into the atmosphere inside the building.
Incredible bravery
Last part about dekking their financial support by lying on the death certificate is a typical russian thing to do . Horrible
Any idea to drop glue on a radioactive leak can’t go well 😬
Hello, can you please include sources for every video you make? You mentioned you would make a video going over sources you used on unsourced videos but I think it would be a good habit to include sources in every video you make
Sources can be viewed at the end of this video, but yes, I have started including them since the Unanswered Questions video, they can be viewed at 11:22.
Brave men all. Rest in Peace.07
I sure the “I could have reached a hand out of the helicopter and held onto them.” is just an expression.
Such courage.
Why did they fly so close without safety buffers?Save a tiny amount of time and fuel?
they flew right into the devils playground , r.i.p. to those brave guys
Okay, maybe just a rookie question but why couldn't the first heli go back to the rear of the second and guide the second one just as they had been guided?
TIME is just one answer and im talking of TIME over target ! in any case {including gunfire} one diff between the 2 is chernobyl nm what you got wounded at very least
If you ran INTO chernobyl you get the big swinging nuts award
What were they carrying? "A mixture of ? and sand" - Great video but I think you need a better mic...
You said avoiding the sarcophagus it wasn't built yet when this was happening
I monitored and observed the entire event from satellite imaging as part of Naval Intelligence. It was harrowing as so many pilots sacrificed their lives in an effort to extinguish runaway nuclear radiation. We witnessed every pilot on their missions to drop tons of material over the reactor. (The US Military was on heightened alert for several months.)
A decade later, I met a 10-year-old girl who was riddled with physical problems resulting from exposure at the event site while in her mother's womb...
maybe you drank too much wine, having witnessed this through Naval Intelligence 😂
That's so sad. I wish they could have done a better job at marking the cables. Would it have helped? I don't know. However with all that was going on at the time they probably didn't think much about it.
Why weren't the cranes moved out of the way? Taking down may have been onerous, sure, but surely they could have turned them around
I do not understand why they did not have streamers on the cables
Is that the MY PILLOW GUY @3:29. Who Knew Mike Lindell was at Chernobyl?
That is so sad😢