How difficult is it to shoot down a helicopter?

[Asteras]

I do apologise for the intrusion... The subject of this posting is not
nice... But I have a good reason to ask for professional advice (and I
am neither a terrorist nor a common criminal):

One of the most notorious criminals of Greece, managed to escape
(again) by using a hijacked helicopter:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-greece-escape23-2009feb23,0,4042657.story

This is the second time he escaped using that way. Both times, the
greek policemen did nothing, because they were either corrupted/bribed
or just utter wasters.

My simple question is: How difficult is it to shoot down a helicopter
provided that the greek policemen HAD machine guns and their distance
from the helicopter was around 100 yards?

A similar question to the previous one: What is the most efficient way
to down a helicopter? When I was a kid, I saw a movie with Kirk
Douglas (I think). He was hiding in the mountain forrests with a rifle
and he was being chased by a helicopter. He aimed very carefully at
the tail rotor, the pilot confessed to the copilot that he (Kirk
Douglas) was attempting something very smart, and eventually when he
managed to shoot at the tail, the helicopter was downed.

This is the company that hires the Helicopters:

http://www.interjet.gr/en/index2.asp?whichpage=2&pagename=helicopter_charter&imageid=helicopter

You can see from the video that the tail rotor is not visible (as it
used to be in older generation helicopters).

Would it be smart enough if the policemen started shooting at the tail
when the helicopter landed, so that none would be harmed and the
prisoners would be unable to escape? I presume that shooting at the
tail propeller could be also efficient but would it bounce many
bullets?

Thanks.

[JohnO]

Post by Asteras
I do apologise for the intrusion... The subject of this posting is not
nice... But I have a good reason to ask for professional advice (and I
One of the most notorious criminals of Greece, managed to escape
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-greece-escape23-2...
This is the second time he escaped using that way. Both times, the
greek policemen did nothing, because they were either corrupted/bribed
or just utter wasters.
My simple question is: How difficult is it to shoot down a helicopter
provided that the greek policemen HAD machine guns and their distance
from the helicopter was around 100 yards?
A similar question to the previous one: What is the most efficient way
to down a helicopter? When I was a kid, I saw a movie with Kirk
Douglas (I think). He was hiding in the mountain forrests with a rifle
and he was being chased by a helicopter. He aimed very carefully at
the tail rotor, the pilot confessed to the copilot that he (Kirk
Douglas) was attempting something very smart, and eventually when he
managed to shoot at the tail, the helicopter was downed.
http://www.interjet.gr/en/index2.asp?whichpage=2&pagename=helicopter_...
You can see from the video that the tail rotor is not visible (as it
used to be in older generation helicopters).
Would it be smart enough if the policemen started shooting at the tail
when the helicopter landed, so that none would be harmed and the
prisoners would be unable to escape? I presume that shooting at the
tail propeller could be also efficient but would it bounce many
bullets?
Thanks.

They shouldn't have fired at the helicopter in the first place as that
recklessly endangered the hijacked pilot. You don't go and kill
innocent civillians to prevent a jail break. Stupid cops!

I think the tail rotor shot would be down to chance as it's a smallish
moving target and it could still easily lead to a fatal accident.

[Asteras]

Post by JohnO
They shouldn't have fired at the helicopter in the first place as that
recklessly endangered the hijacked pilot. You don't go and kill
innocent civillians to prevent a jail break. Stupid cops!

I think that there were only "warning shots". That explains why the
helicopter suffered no damage (and that is why the prisoners landed in
a remote area, safely).

Post by JohnO
I think the tail rotor shot would be down to chance as it's a smallish
moving target and it could still easily lead to a fatal accident.

Thank you for your technical feedback.

Unfortunately, according to your viewpoint, the stupid/corrupt greek
cops have many excuses for not doing anything to prevent the jail
break. Their advocates will probably use such arguments in the court.

The stupidest thing of all is that the pilot is now arrested: He will
be tried for collusion, because he did not use a device to warn the
police that his helicopter was hijacked.

[JohnO]

Post by Asteras

Post by JohnO
They shouldn't have fired at the helicopter in the first place as that
recklessly endangered the hijacked pilot. You don't go and kill
innocent civillians to prevent a jail break. Stupid cops!

I think that there were only "warning shots". That explains why the
helicopter suffered no damage (and that is why the prisoners landed in
a remote area, safely).

According to news reports there's at least one bullet hole in the
helicopter. So the cops are useless at shooting at best.

Post by Asteras

Post by JohnO
I think the tail rotor shot would be down to chance as it's a smallish
moving target and it could still easily lead to a fatal accident.

Thank you for your technical feedback.
Unfortunately, according to your viewpoint, the stupid/corrupt greek
cops have many excuses for not doing anything to prevent the jail
break. Their advocates will probably use such arguments in the court.

Sometimes you just can't do anything direct. That's the nature of what
was effectively a hostage situation.

Post by Asteras
The stupidest thing of all is that the pilot is now arrested: He will
be tried for collusion, because he did not use a device to warn the
police that his helicopter was hijacked.

Yet more stupidity then. Hopefully the pilot can mount a complete
defense against what sounds like a vindictive and ridiculous charge.
The authorities are claiming that he should have set the emergency
squawk code on his transponder to indicate a hijack but the hijackers
could well know about that and warn him not to.

[Asteras]

Post by Asteras
A similar question to the previous one: What is the most efficient way
to down a helicopter? When I was a kid, I saw a movie with Kirk
Douglas (I think). He was hiding in the mountain forrests with a rifle
and he was being chased by a helicopter. He aimed very carefully at
the tail rotor, the pilot confessed to the copilot that he (Kirk
Douglas) was attempting something very smart, and eventually when he
managed to shoot at the tail, the helicopter was downed.

I managed to find the film... It's called "Lonely are the Brave" and
it was shot in 1962:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonely_Are_the_Brave

"When a helicopter joins in the chase, Burns shoots it down with his
rifle by damaging its tail rotor, causing the pilot to lose control."

I couldn't find the footage of the downing on line...

[Brien]

The crash seen in the movie shows the helicopter swooping down the side of
the mountain with plenty of forward speed to have overcome the loss of the
tail rotor and fly in trail. The helicopter could have flown to a place and
landed with a run on landing without crashing but that is the movie not
reality.

Post by Asteras
A similar question to the previous one: What is the most efficient way
to down a helicopter? When I was a kid, I saw a movie with Kirk
Douglas (I think). He was hiding in the mountain forrests with a rifle
and he was being chased by a helicopter. He aimed very carefully at
the tail rotor, the pilot confessed to the copilot that he (Kirk
Douglas) was attempting something very smart, and eventually when he
managed to shoot at the tail, the helicopter was downed.

I managed to find the film... It's called "Lonely are the Brave" and
it was shot in 1962:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonely_Are_the_Brave

"When a helicopter joins in the chase, Burns shoots it down with his
rifle by damaging its tail rotor, causing the pilot to lose control."

I couldn't find the footage of the downing on line...