BLAST FROM THE PAST: Pilot, passenger have rough landing

EDITOR’S NOTE: BLAST FROM THE PAST is a weekly article where we turn back the clock and see what was on the front page of our local newspapers years ago.

This unchanged article ran on the front page of the July 24, 1990, edition of the Shoshone News-Press. If you remember this story, or other BLAST FROM THE PAST articles, let us know by writing us or commenting online.

WALLACE — Pilot Harry Voltolini performed a crash landing that would probably be billed as a spectacular stunt in air shows anywhere Monday morning.

When the landing gear stopped skidding, Voltolini and his passenger, Gary Miller of Spokane, stepped out without a scratch or bruise to show for their harrowing ride. People stood and speculated about what might have happened as they looked at the narrow street that takes traffic along the 800 block of Hotel Street in back of Excell market.

Obstacles include many overhead wires, two and three story buildings that stand so close to the narrow road there’s barely room for sidewalks and parking lanes. Commercial trucks loading or unloading freight frequently leave skant room for cars to get through, let alone the landing of a crippled aircraft.

Nonetheless, there sat the helicopter as if it had landed through the eye of an invisible needle at a time when every part of the machine was working perfectly.

Voltolini said the trouble began at about 10:52 a.m. when a belt driving the rotor broke while he was flying relatively low over King Street about eight blocks away. The purpose of the flight was to give Miller an opportunity to photograph the I-90 construction site for the Max J. Kuney prime contractors.

Once he realized the rotor blades were doing little more than send the machine on a downward wheeling motion, Voltolini said he quickly considered options for setting the careening machine down with the least amount of potential injuries or damage. First, he headed for the parking lot at Excell market in hopes of finding it open. A lesser choice was the idea of ditching the helicopter in an unpopulated area of the mountainside.

“At first I thought the way was clear at Excell, but then a big truck started pulling out and the street was all that was left,” Voltolini said.

The chopper barely missed wires leading to the Building Hardware and Maintenance building, and came to a side-ways sliding halt with only a little damage to the landing gear but without a chip on its body.

Emergency crews called at 10:55 remained on standby while officials photographed the scene.

“If I had a belt I could fly it out of here,” Voltolini said. He also said he is wondering why a belt with a 1,200 hour programmed lifetime shredded after little more than 400 hours of use.

As it was, the Federal Aviation Administration gave permission to move the machine, and Voltolini brought his low-boy rig in to transport the helicopter to his property in Silverton.