CHARLESTON, South Carolina-

Every day thousands of people witness various types accidents across the Untied States and use their cell phones to call for emergency assistance. Sometimes I wonder how we ever made it as a society without cell phones on our hips, making it possible to call anyone at any time, at a moments notice. Because of cell phone, in most cases, emergency assistance can be at an accident scene within mere minutes.

It’s been quite a few years, but can recall four very different, but specific cases, when I used my cell phone to call for help. Once was for a substantial spin out on the freeway, another for an apparent drunk driver who was all over the road, another for a large grass fire, and finally when I saw what appeared to be a small plane possibly crash into the ground, but was unsure due to visual restrictions.

I was reminded of the last incident with the plane when I read about a motorist who had called 911 to report a helicopter was spewing smoke as it plunged toward the Wando River in South Carolina. One police officer, a fire battalion chief, and three fire trucks raced to the scene of the crash. Another police officer was in the region and saw the disaster scene before anyone else had arrived. He was very calm and collected and took care of everything himself. He called off the troops because the incident was not a big deal. What the 911 caller did not notice was the distressed helicopter was only a 2 foot long remote control helicopter. The distance the reporting party was from the toy helicopter threw off his depth perception and he had no way to tell the actual size of the aircraft.

The moral of the story: Distance and size of an aircraft can throw off a person’s perception. I would say there is no fault here, it could happen to anyone.

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