In 1976, he was flying a rented helicopter above the Connecticut coast when the power failed and smoke filled the cockpit.
"I wasn't sure what was going on in the engine compartment behind me, but I certainly knew I was falling and couldn't breathe," he wrote in his book. "I was going down. The only question was whether I'd walk away once I got there."
Bloomberg disconnected the engine to let the rotor spin freely and, just before touching down, eased the landing by changing the pitch of the spinning rotor blades to create a bit of lift. This is called autorotation and is practiced by helicopter pilots for emergency landings in the case of engine failure.
The chopper barely made it onto an island off Norwalk. The island was so small the helicopter's tail hung over the water. There was no room for a Coast Guard helicopter to land, so the crew let down a rescue basket to pick up Bloomberg, then a 33-year-old partner at a Wall Street securities trading firm.
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