History Main / HellishCopter

* The helicopter in TheLifeAquatic; it's poor maintenance is something of a ChekhovsGun

* ''AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'' has an [[RealLifeWritesThePlot unplanned example]]: A helicopter that was rented for the movie was supposed to land in the background of a scene, except that the tail rotor struck the ground, causing the chopper to spin out and crash. The pilot escaped relatively unharmed. Thus, a helicopter that ''wasn't'' supposed to crash in a movie ''still'' crashed.

* ''{{Alien}}s'' does this in spirit. Corporal Ferro is flying the dropship to pick up the surviving SpaceMarines to bring them back to the [[CoolShip Sulaco]]. However, [[spoiler:she has a [[DangerTakesABackSeat hitchhiker]], in the form of a Xenomorph which kills the pilot and causes the dropship to nearly crash into the Marines.]]

* ''{{Alien}}s'' does this in spirit. [[spoiler:Corporal Ferro is flying the dropship to pick up the surviving SpaceMarines to bring them back to the [[CoolShip Sulaco]]. However, she has a [[DangerTakesABackSeat hitchhiker]], in the form of a Xenomorph which kills the pilot and causes the dropship to nearly crash into the Marines.]]

Watch enough action movies, and you soon realize that the only thing more dangerous than being on a helicopter is wearing a [[StarTrek V-neck]] {{RedShirt}} or being the [[DeathBySex slutty girl]] in a ''FridayThe13th'' movie.[[hottip:* :Goodness help you if you're the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot slutty girl in a v-necked red shirt in a helicopter]].]]

* The final battle in ''{{Avatar}}'' wouldn't count (military choppers being taken down in combet) except for what they were being taken down by: what one would essentially consider [[CallARabbitASmeerp dragons]] swarming and attacking them. Particularly for the gunship that gets grabbed by a dragon and flung into another gunship, one of the gunners seeing the other gunship flying at them just in time to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel scream horribly]].

* The final battle in ''{{Avatar}}'' wouldn't count (military choppers being taken down in combet) except for what they were being taken down by: what one would essentially consider [[CallASmeerpARabbit dragons]] swarming and attacking them. Particularly for the gunship that gets grabbed by a dragon and flung into another gunship, one of the gunners seeing the other gunship flying at them just in time to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel scream horribly]].

* The final battle in ''{{Avatar}}'' wouldn't count (military choppers being taken down in combet) except for what they were being taken down by: what one would essentially consider [[CallASmerpARabbit dragons]] swarming and attacking them. Particularly for the gunship that gets grabbed by a dragon and flung into another gunship, one of the gunners seeing the other gunship flying at them just in time to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel scream horribly]].

* The final battle in ''{{Avatar}}'' wouldn't count (military choppers being taken down in combet) except for what they were being taken down by: what one would essentially consider [[CallASmearpARabbit dragons]] swarming and attacking them. Particularly for the gunship that gets grabbed by a dragon and flung into another gunship, one of the gunners seeing the other gunship flying at them just in time to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel scream horribly]].

** Taken to BeyondTheImpossible levels in ''Modern Warfare 2'', where the player's helicopter is shot down, then has the survivors having to flee to safety after [[spoiler: an EMP blast causes ''many'' more choppers to ''rain from the sky''.]]

*** More helicopters go down in the Vietnam levels.

* The final battle in ''{{Avatar}}'' wouldn't count (military choppers being taken down in combet) except for what they were being taken down by: what one would essentially consider [[CallASmerpARabbit dragons]] swarming and attacking them. Particularly for the gunship that gets grabbed by a dragon and flung into another gunship, one of the gunners seeing the other gunship flying at them just in time to [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel scream horribly]].

This trope is about helicopters crashing in situations where a helo crash wouldn't necessarily be expected. If a military chopper in a warzone gets hit by a rocket launcher and goes down, that's less of this and more of a RennyHarlinHelicopterExplosion. If a military chopper collides with another aircraft or power lines or something due to remarkably bad luck, then it's this trope. If the chopper goes down because DangerTakesABackseat, it's this trope regardless of it being a military chopper in a warzone or not. If it's a police or news chopper getting blown up by a rocket launcher over downtown Los Angeles, it's both this trope and RennyHarlinHelicopterExplosion, as you'd never really expect that sort of thing to happen.

* The final battle in ''{{Avatar}}'' had one Scorpion gunship (they use rotary blades to move) being thrown at another. One of its rotors hits the door and the RA marine that was sitting there turns around and [[NightmareFuel starts screaming horribly]] right before the two explode.
* Happens ''many'' times in ''DWar'' due to the helicopters belonging to the RedshirtArmy, though their exploding is mostly due to the pilots' incompetence than outside forces.

** Taken to BeyondTheImpossible levels in ''Modern Warfare 2'', where the player's helicopter is shot down, then has them fleeing to safety after an EMP blast causes more choppers to ''rain from the sky''.

* Helicopters are taken down twice in the Edward Norton-starring ''TheIncredibleHulk'', first when the Hulk throws a piece of debris at a military helicopter during the campus fight, and later when the Abomination brings down the helicopter carrying [[spoiler: Betty and General Thunderbolt Ross]].

** Actually, it seems to be noteworthy if a POV character climbs aboard a helicopter in the ModernWarfare games and the chopper ''doesn't'' get shot down somehow

* ''IfLooksCouldKill'' has a [[NarmCharm particularly silly]] helicopter crash where the rotor section detaches and comes after the heroes like a gigantic buzzsaw.

-->''Santini:'' Well, it...it doesn't really have a ''name,'' generally you don't see that unless you've lost your tail rotor...