No...

The pic is real. As a crewchief in the USMC from 96-2000, I flew over 380 hours in the CH-46E Seaknight and have over 13 of the "landings" you see there under my belt. They are High Ridge Dismounts or HRD-landings. What you don't see is the crewchief on the starboard side of the AC talking the pilots down onto the rear mains. They then hold a hover and blow the ramp and hatch to dismount the troops.

This is how you deploy Marines, Soldiers onto a high mountian top or ridgeline. Also, right under the Helo it is suprisingly calm, as a helo does not hover by producing "downwash thrust." A helicopter hovers simply because of the aerodynamic lift garnered from the simple fact that the blades are "flying" at about 500+ mph. Rotors are nothing more than airfoils...they produce lift when driven forward, as a wing does.

Yes, the fire is still burning. You only really feel downwash from a helo when it's coming near you and then it's busting the "ground effect bubble" an area about 200 feet above SOLID ground where the flaring of the helo to come into a hover produces some downward thrust.

It's as simple as this...if helicopters hovered only by being in ground effect (pushing air toward the ground) then why can they hover at 10,000 feet???

It's a mountian top, the air is thinner, we don't know what altitude they're at, the pilot was already in a hover before even coming near the building, the weight of the wheels on the structure is probably less than 300lbs since the majority of it's weight is still flying. The pic is real. Good flight crew though.

The best part about HRD landings is the "takeoff." After holding the helo in a hover out of ground effect, the engines are understandibly a bit onthe warm side. So after the dismount, the pilot will come up a little, fly forward down the face of the ridge and then just let the bird drop toward the deck at about 130Kts. Now THATS one hell of a ride!!!

This is a video of the type of helo I crewed in. I knew the crewchief on this bird. It's one hell of a nasty accident.

http://www.aviationexplorer.com/movies/AirplaneSeaKnight.mpg