It was a calm, clear night of 20th April, 1998, I was a student pilot in a Hughes 500D helicopter on a cross-country flight from the St. Paul, MN downtown airport back home to good old Grand Forks, ND. The flight was my final requirement prior to taking the test to achieve a helicopter instrument rating. My log book shows that we were 35 DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) or 35 nautical miles from the VOR on Airway Victor 2. This put us somewhere south/southeast of St. Cloud, MN, cruising along at what I recall was 4,500 feet above sea level at approximately 120 knots. Then, it happened…BOOOOM! It is not hyperbole to say that it was a thunderous explosion, followed by a hurricane blast of wind to the face.

It all started when my flight instructor asked a mundane question about our planned instrument approach into Alexandria, MN. We swapped control of the aircraft and I bent over to consult the instrument approach plate on my kneeboard. As I snapped on the red lens flashlight...