I’m retired US Army Aviation with 20 years and 2 years Vietnam service. What you are seeing is a maneuver that is part of Chinooks pilot training but makes a impressive photos. Being familiar with Chinooks in Vietnam what impress me is putting that big of target in harms way with as many venerable spots that exist on that aircraft. Unlike fix wing type aircraft, there are a lot rotating parts that need to quite rotating in a crash including 6 blades that turn in to flying missiles. The aviation folks deserve a real pat on the back when it comes to getting soldiers out of tight places, going into a landing zone to extract soldiers, that they know are hot with odds against them takes a lot of good old fashion guts. All you can say to those folks is a great big thanks and give then a thumbs up it really means a lot to them.
