If you go down to the woods today...
I guess it was a big surprise.....still glad to see it had a happy ending
TAKEN FROM AN NZ PAPER REPORT
Injured rescue helicopter pilot makes safe landing
An injured rescue helicopter pilot hovered her damaged machine for an hour before landing safely at Hood Aerodrome in Masterton last night.
The Lifeflight Trust helicopter, operated by Helilink Ltd, had earlier struck trees in the Rimutaka Ranges. It had been called out to transport an injured motorcyclist from Masterton Hospital to Wellington.
Police said today the pilot's hand was injured and possibly broken when a tree smashed the cockpit window, also injuring a doctor onboard.
The damaged helicopter limped on to Masterton where it circled above the Hood Aerodrome for about an hour while emergency services constructed a makeshift landing bed of tyres.
Masterton Fire Service station officer Gary Nielsen said fire fighters were called to the aerodrome about 10.45pm. The helicopter had received some "impact damage" to a landing skid and was unable to land because it was unbalanced.
The pilot was forced to hover above the landing site while fire fighter cut off the other skid.
Senior Sergeant Terry O'Neill of Masterton police said the all-female helicopter crew of four, including a doctor and a nurse from Kapiti Health, got out of the helicopter while the pilot hovered above the landing site.
After the skid was removed, the pilot manoeuvred the craft on to the tyres and shut the engine down without problems.
Police closed roads to the aerodrome and residents, many in their dressing gowns, came out to see what was happening.
"It was touch and go, we were relying on her being a good pilot and we only had one go at it and she was really low on fuel, but she did it," Mr Nielsen said.
"It could have been disastrous."
Wairarapa Ambulance Service station officer David Long said bits of tree were embedded in the helicopter and inside it.
Ambulance staff treated the doctor and pilot.
"She was very, very sore when the adrenaline wore off but she had managed to fly for an hour with (the injury)," Mr Long said.
A fixed wing aircraft flew from Wellington to take the injured motorcyclist and the pilot to Wellington Hospital.
The Civil Aviation Authority will investigate the incident.
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