Lake Tahoe Helicopter Mishap: Eyewitness View

Sept. 27, 2010 -- The video recording of two Navy helicopters dipping dramatically into the blue waters of Lake Tahoe that has become an Internet sensation was made by a family on a hike. They said they thought they were seeing a training exercise and posted the video on YouTube as a way to ask friends about it.

Micah Erickson, vacationing with his family near Emerald Bay, on the California shore of the lake, thought he was seeing an accident at first.

"We were scared," he said in an interview with ABC News. We thought the chopper had actually crashed into the water, and then it came out."

But "when the second chopper did the same thing, we thought it was some kind of a training thing because it did the exact same thing that the first chopper did. So we thought they were performing some kind of a flying training maneuver of how to dunk a helicopter in the water."

The Navy is investigating the September 13 incident, in which two of its MH-60 Romeo helicopters dipped into Lake Tahoe and sustained at least $50,000 in damage each. The flight crews of both helicopters have been grounded pending the results of an investigation to determine what actually happened that day.

Click here or in the player above to view the video.

Each helicopter normally carries two pilots and a crew chief.

Since news of the investigation became public last Friday, the video has been viewed online at least 400,000 times. The Navy's investigation was already under way before the video went viral. An Aviation Mishap Board was convened shortly after the helicopter crews landed at the nearby Lake Tahoe Airport and reported to their superiors that they had sustained damage during the incident.

Erickson says his family stopped to watch the helicopters circle slowly above the water and expected they might see Navy SEALS diving into the water for a training exercise.

"That didn't happen, and suddenly the first chopper went into the water, and then it came back out again and that's when we pulled out the camera and started to video," said Erickson.

On the video posted on YouTube, the voices of Erickson's wife and mother-in-law can be heard reacting to what they were seeing. One can be heard saying, "The other one's going to do it," before exclaiming "Oh my gosh…Oh!!" as the second helicopter dips into the lake.

Another voice replies, "They're totally practicing, aren't they." The first speaker then says, "I didn't even know it was possible."