A helicopter was flying around
above Seattle when an electrical
malfunction disabled all of the
aircraft's electronic navigation
and communications equipment.
Due to the clouds and haze, the
pilot could not determine the
helicopter's position. The pilot
saw a tall building, flew toward it,
circled, and held up a handwritten
sign that said "WHERE AM I?" in
large letters. People in the tall
building quickly responded to the
aircraft, drew a large sign, and
held it in a building window. Their
sign said "YOU ARE IN A
HELICOPTER."
The pilot smiled, waved, looked at
his map, determined the course to
steer to SEATAC airport, and
landed safely. After they were on
the ground, the copilot asked the
pilot how he had done it.
"I knew it had to be the Microsoft
Building, because they gave me a
technically correct but completely
useless answer."