Shortly after the 2021 Dakar Rally ended, shocking footage has emerged that shows the moment a helicopter filming the event made contact with the roof of a truck it was flying above.
Video of the incident shows the helicopter hovering just a couple of feet above the Dakar truck when suddenly, the truck jumps over a hump along the dirt track that pushes items placed on the truck’s roof into one of the helicopter’s skids. In the immediate aftermath of the collision, something can be seen falling to the ground, although it is unclear if it is something that was broken off from the truck or from the helicopter.
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The truck was being driven by Anton Shibalov at the time and according to Eric Khairullin from the Russian Kamaz-Master team, the collision damaged the roof-mounted intake of the truck.
“It looked rather strange,” Khairullin said in a statement. “It turned out that the organizers’ helicopter hovered too low over the track and at some point, when the truck rushing at speed, threw it up, apparently, [hitting] a helicopter, which, of course, is very dangerous. Fortunately, everything worked out. This is a question of organizing the safety of flights of organizing helicopters during the competition.”
The Dakar Rally is, of course, extremely dangerous and this minor incident between the truck and helicopter was overshadowed by the death of French motorcyclist Pierre Cherpin who died five days after a serious crash during the event. Indian motorcyclist CS Santosh has also been placed in a coma following a crash of his own.
Film chopper hits Dakar truck. Insanity. https://t.co/6liGzdecey
— chris harris (@harrismonkey) January 16, 2021