I think the penguins are still mad about the Trump tariffs!
"Unsecured penguin" is just a great visual image.
Gotta use that as my go-to excuse now.
"I'm sorry, teacher, but an unsecured penguin ate my homework."
Here's what happened on that fateful January 19th day:
[The chopper] had flown to Bird Island, off the Eastern Cape, in order for a specialist to carry out an aerial survey. After the survey was completed the R44 landed on the island, and the specialist requested to transport a penguin back to Port Elizabeth's Stuurman airport.
The pilot allowed the penguin to be put into a cardboard box and carried on the specialist's lap.
As the helicopter took off, however, the box slid off said lap and into one of the controls.
‘As a result, the cyclic pitch control lever advanced to the far right position,' says the inquiry. ‘The helicopter rolled to the right and the pilot could not recover timeously.'
Translation: They crashed.
No one was injured (not even the penguin).
Next time, take better precautions with a flightless bird!
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
