Indonesian Mi-35P Gunship Blows Down Banners and Band Tent in Zany Parade Gaff.
It looks like a staged comedy skit, but apparently, an Indonesian Army Mi-35P gunship helicopter made an unanticipated low pass over goose-stepping Indonesian troops marching in review and things went wrong quickly. The results are worth a chuckle.
The amusing incident took place either in preparation for or during the Indonesian Military, or TNI, 74th anniversary military parade and air show at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta on Saturday.
While the rest of Indonesia’s military anniversary display was indeed impressive, this incident looks likely to steal the show. Possibly, the crew of an Indonesian Mi-35P Gunship was inspired by the tower fly-by scene in “Top Gun”, or, maybe they never saw it and failed to anticipate what would happen if they decided to “buzz the bandstand” like a rotary wing version of Maverick and Goose. The result was a little more than spilled coffee.
With several formations of marching units passing in review in front of a large banner and a covered bandstand, the helicopter crew makes a low and slow hovering pass overhead in review. Apparently, the signs and the tent hadn’t been tested for the rotor wash from the big gunship. The signs come down, the dust goes up, the bandstand collapses, and we can’t stop hitting the “replay” button to see the whole thing happen over again.
The entire episode didn’t appear to cause any injuries from the looks of it, except perhaps a bruise to the Indonesian attack helicopter community’s ego. Hopefully the entire affair was cleaned up quickly, the Mi-35P crew gained some altitude and flew away and the parade went on. Maybe the best takeaway in this video is, if you’re going to buzz the tents and a military parade, don’t do it in a big helicopter.