Question

the pilot of a traffic helicopter sights an accident at an angle of depression of 18 degrees the helicopter's altitude is 1560 ft what is the straight line distance from the helicopter to the accident? round to the nearest foot

Answer 1

The straight line distance from the helicopter to the accident is the hypotenuse of the right triangle when we connect all the three points. Solving for the horizontal distance, we make use of the equation,
sin 18 = 1560 ft / horizontal distance
Solving the equation above, the horizontal distance is 5048.27 ft.