It’s no lie the rotor can be dangerous af. Always try to approach the side doors as close to a 90 degree angle as you can, and never stand completely upright unless your, at least, between the bird and half the length of the rotor blade.
The blades don’t spin in a flat circle they can be bent upward or downward but looking like they’re flat. Thrust and environmental factors can make each blade oscillate up and down separately, together, or at random. It’s just going too fast for us to see.
One blade passes 6ft above your head and the next night dip as low as your waist. It doesn’t really cut you, it’s like optimus prime hitting you with a giant metal pipe as hard as he can. The blades hit you so hard that you break and possibly separate.
A medic from one of our aviation brigades was killed while we were all in Afghanistan. He was trying to be helpful and assist the line medics with guiding patients to the helicopter. I think the fighting confused him because he approached from the most dangerous angle, the front. It looks like you’ll clear it but the blades are most likely to dip in the front. A blade smacked the shyt out of him and he died later. The pilots are constantly making minute adjustments while hovering, even with the wheels on the ground. The blades still look flat but are bouncing pretty crazy. I can’t imagine trying to evac a dozen patients only to get one more expectant, in front of the other patients.