NYPD helicopter hard landing - ditching in the water

[ATPMBA]

Just read on a news crawler a NYPD copter landed/is down in Jamica Bay. I believe 6 souls on board are safe.

[birrddog]

Just saw on the news, 412, hard landing in water, broke one of the rotor blades, smashed windscreen crew in hospital though thankfully nothing fateful.

Pilot heard a bang, deployed floats ended upright in the water.

Here was video of the aircraft afterwards on the news though I have no links at the moment.

[206Fan]

NYPD Helicopter Ditches In Jamaica Bay (http://vtolblog.com/?p=3728)

Just before 4 p.m. today an NYPD helicopter made an emergency landing in Brooklyn, specifically in Jamaica Bay. There were three flight crew, two scuba divers and a trainee on board at the time but no serious injuries were reported. Some news outlets are reporting that the 2009 Bell 412EP ran out of fuel but nobody has confirmed that. The force of the ditching snapped a rotor which hit the windshield according to the AP.

The aircraft was apparently in the landing phase and was only 30 yards from shore when they had to deploy the floats. Despite the “out of fuel” reporting, most agencies say that mechanical failure is suspected. Surprised? Anyways, great job by the crew!

The registration is N412PD

http://vtolblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/nypd_ditch_1.jpg

http://vtolblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/nypd_ditch_3.jpg

http://vtolblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/nypd_ditch_2.jpg

[MikeNYC]

This ditching evidently happened within 10 minutes of Air Force One delivering President Obama to JFK, and occurred just a few miles from JFK. NYPD Aviation certainly had their hands full this afternoon, I imagine... Glad all made it out OK.

[mickjoebill]

This ditching evidently happened within 10 minutes of Air Force One delivering President Obama to JFK,
If true, is it SOP to have 2 scuba divers onboard a NYPD heli when Airforce one visits JFK?

Mickjoebill

[Senior Pilot]

NY Times (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/police-helicopter-makes-emergency-landing-in-jamaica-bay/?ref=nyregion)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/09/22/nyregion/0922helicopter-cityroom/0922helicopter-cityroom-blogSpan.jpg

A police helicopter on approach for a landing was forced to ditch in the waters of Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, the police said. None of the six people aboard were seriously injured.

Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman, said that an initial inquiry suggested that a mechanical problem caused the helicopter to make an emergency landing in the waters near its base at Floyd Bennett Field at 3:47 p.m.

When the helicopter hit the water, the hard landing caused one of four rotors, or blades, to snap in half. The broken piece of blade slammed into the helicopter’s windshield, Mr. Browne said.

Mr. Browne said that all six crew members — a pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, crew chief in training and two police divers from its scuba team — were taken to Lutheran Medical Center, for evaluation, and that Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly met them there. One of the crew members suffered minor injuries.

Mr. Browne said he did not know where the helicopter, an air-sea helicopter purchased by the department about a year ago, had been before the incident. The helicopter was returning to base, but Mr. Browne said he did not “know what their prior assignment was.”

The chopper landed about 30 yards from the shore where Floyd Bennett Field is located. It was equipped with flotation devices “that act like pontoons,” Mr. Browne said. He said those devices were activated. A departmental boat approached to retrieve the crew members, and “nobody went in the water,” Mr. Browne said. “They were able to step from the helicopter onto the harbor vessel.”

Mr. Browne said that skids on the helicopter had flotation devices wrapped around them. “They were deployed before it hit the water,” he said.

By late afternoon, the helicopter, an Air-Sea Rescue Bell helicopter, Model 412, was towed toward the shore, where a large Emergency Service Unit truck pulled it to land via a cable, Mr. Browne said.

NY Daily News (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/22/2010-09-22_nypd_helicopter_makes_hard_emergency_landing_in_brooklyn_ cause_unclear.html)

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/09/23/alg_chopper.jpg

An NYPD helicopter pilot patrolling the air space before Air Force One landed at Kennedy Airport brought out her inner Chesley Sullenberger - making an emergency landing on Wednesday in Jamaica Bay.

The six-member crew survived with minor injuries after Detective Erin Nolan was forced to splash down around 4 p.m. because of a mechanical problem. The cops were treated at Lutheran Medical Center and released after the alarming landing about 30 yards from their base at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

The air-sea rescue chopper was about to refuel at the base before escorting President Obama to the Wall Street heliport, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

But a loud bang just before the chopper planned to land at the base forced it to take a dive.

Nolan, a 12-year veteran of the force, and her co-pilot, Detective James Varga, were able to deploy flotation devices from the chopper's skids just before touching down, Kelly said.

Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger safely glided a US Airways jet onto the Hudson River last year after a bird strike disabled its engines.


Read more: NYPD helicopter makes hard emergency landing in Brooklyn, cause unclear (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/22/2010-09-22_nypd_helicopter_makes_hard_emergency_landing_in_brooklyn_ cause_unclear.html#ixzz10KvT8125)