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Photos from WAFB TwitterOn Friday a Louisiana trucker made a $30 million mistake when the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter he was towing was wedged under an overpass support beam. Police confirmed that the driver misjudged the height of the aircraft and the rotor collided with the bridge's support beam, taking two hours to remove.A trucker transporting a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter got stuck underneath an overpass at S. Range Avenue and I-12 in Denham Springs, Louisiana earlier today.??WBRZ#helicopter #aviation pic.twitter.com/5an7X74WSk— FL360aero (@fl360aero) September 22, 2023
The truck was wedged under the I-12 overpass Friday morning in Denham Springs, Louisiana. The Denham Springs Police Department said the driver, 56-year-old Miguel Rodriguez worked for Texas-based company International Machine Transport and was transporting the aircraft from Georgia to Lafayette. Rodriguez was ticketed for careless operation after the incident. WBRZ reported that the bridge passes 15 feet above the roadway and the helicopter body is 15.5 feet tall.
WAFB reported that the helicopter became wedged under the bridge at about 8:30 a.m. and took roughly two hours to remove. There was no reported structural damage to the overpass but the brand new chopper may be scrapped. Drive Team reported that due to the aircraft's fragile nature the severe impact to the rotor may render the aircraft unairworthy. A new S-92 is estimated to cost about $30 million, making this one costly mistake.