Helicopter makes emergency landing on Interstate 12

Karl Beier leads the adventurous life: he lives in Slidell but commutes to his office in Belle Chasse in his own private helicopter. Cool! It's gotta be better than twiddling one's thumbs while puttering alone the interstate down below.

Uh-oh! Looks like we spoke too soon. Beier's routine commute hit an unexpected snag Sunday afternoon, when, just moments after his departure from the Slidell airport, the helicopter's engine conked out. With mere seconds to prepare for a crash landing, Beier made the decision to turn Interstate 12 into a makeshift runway.

According to the Times-Picayune, Beir "focused on a westbound pickup truck as a moving target in the heavy traffic on the highway and followed after it. Keeping pace with the truck, Beier tried to squeeze his helicopter in between the truck and the 1999 Chevrolet van following closely behind it.

Beier managed to fit the nose of his helicopter in just behind the truck, which he said sped off and showed no signs of even noticing his approach. The tail end of his helicopter, however, scraped along the top of the van before hitting the pavement, doing only superficial damage to both vehicles."

Gee, only minor damage, then? Oh well, it's still a pretty cool story. Driving on the interstate can become dull after a while, when the only sights to see are speeders and tailgaters. Having a helicopter make an impromptu landing every now and then would really spice up the ol' drive home after work. Especially on the North Shore!