Sheriff Helicopter Toe In Landing Technique is Very Popular Video On Youtube

This video of one of our helicopters and crew at SDSO ASTREA performing a toe in maneuver, has become a very popular video on Youtube with over 4,000 views.

I have talked about "toe in" landings on this site before.  To perform a toe in landing you simply place the toes of both skids against the mountain side in front of you, while monitoring your main rotor blade tips to ensure you do not make contact with any obstacles.  Once the tips of both skids are set against the ground, it is a reasonably stable position to hold.  While a toe in landing is generally not performed by newer pilots, it is not an extremely difficult maneuver to become proficient at. 

This maneuver is probably performed over a hundred (or more) times a year by pilots in our unit, both during training, and on actual calls. 

The primary reason to perform a toe in landing would be to drop off or pick up your partner when there is no suitable landing area to put both skids completely on the ground.  Primarily in mountainous terrain.  The toe in, (along with the one skid landing) is extremely valuable in rescue work.  You can see from this video that we can pluck a person off the side of a mountain, with no landing zone, with relative ease. 

Landings such as this is not without risk however.  Catching a skid on a fixed object or striking an object with your main rotor blade are just a couple of the dangers.  Deputy Pilots performing such maneuvers approach them in a slow methodical manner utilizing their observer/TFO's to help guide them in, and clear obstructions or hazards.

This particular call was of a vehicle over the side on Nate Harris Grade Rd, on the west side of Palomar Mountain.  Scott, the pilot in this case has already dropped his observer off to check the vehicle and is coming back in to pick him up.

Notice that the Tactical Flight Officer is in position and the helicopter comes to him.  Basically the pilot flies the helicopter to a position where the windscreen bubble is within inches of the deputy on the ground.  This is done so the person on the ground doesn't walk down hill into the path of the rotor blades, if the helicopter got into position first.  Remember, depending on the steepness of the terrain the tips of those rotor blades may be within one or two feet of the terrain above the TFO's position. 

While this is a dynamic maneuver, and must be approached with an abundance of caution, training and experience, law enforcement- rescue, and other pilots perform this maneuver all over the world on a regular basis.

In the history of the San Diego Sheriff's Aviation Division I am not away of any injuries or significant incidents occurring during a toe in landing.  It goes without saying that we depend on the reliability of the turbine engines in these helicopters, as well as the care and maintenance provided by our top notch team of helicopter technicians. 

The helicopter in this video is one of our older MD500D models of which we have three.