You've Likely Never Seen a Chopper Rescue Like This

Using what the BBC calls a "dramatic" helicopter maneuver, rescuers descended on a mountain in the French Alps last week to rescue an injured skier, and the video is indeed "heart-stopping." US News reports that on Jan. 2, a young man was skiing with friends in the Pass of Anterne when he apparently dislocated his knee and started having trouble skiing down the mountain. The group called for help, and a helicopter soon descended on the scene, which ABC Australia notes took place at an altitude of 6,500 feet. Weather conditions were icy and rough, however, with lots of fog and wind, and so the chopper performed what's called a "skate support" move, a video of which one of the skiers recorded and posted to Facebook; the clip is also making the rounds on YouTube.

The video shows the helicopter flying right up to the mountainside and cramming its nose into the snow, its blades continuing to swirl precariously close to the landscape as rescuers hop out. But while the internet is marveling, the pilot told French media that it's "nothing extraordinary." "This maneuver is taught to all pilots who pass the mountain qualification," he shrugged, per the Epoch Times. (Helicopter rescues seem to be a thing in France now.)