Helicopter pilot screams at dozy passenger who tried to grab lever mid-air

'That will kill us!'

A video show's the pilot grabbing the passenger's wrist and screaming "No! That will kill us!"

Cherlin Bijlsma, 27, from the Netherlands was on holiday travelling around the West Coast of the USA.

After joining a travel group she went from San Francisco to Las Vegas and to Los Angeles.

One of the pitstops was at the world-famous Grand Canyon where she decided to take part in a helicopter tour.

Commenting on the moment, Cherlin said: "We watched a safety briefing video so they must have not paid attention."

The footage shows the pilot grabbing the lever lightly and then almost instantly afterwards the woman grabs it herself, resulting in her being reprimanded.

@cherlin95

The before. (I stopped recording, sorry).

♬ origineel geluid - CB

Cherlin added: "When the pilot scolded her I looked at her in between the seats and I saw that she smiled at the pilot.

"It was an awkward smile. I’m not sure if she said anything back to the pilot. I do hear their voices on the audio but I didn’t hear them at that moment.

"The lady who grabbed the lever was there with what I think was her daughter.

"I looked like she didn’t understand English very well."

The tour group soon managed to get to the Grand Canyon and then made their way back to the base.

Cherlin said: "When we landed my friend - who was also in my travel group - jokingly thanked the pilot for 'saving our lives.'

"The pilot laughed while shaking his head, he said something like 'oh my, oh my.'"

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