YAKIMA, Wash. — As a damaged helicopter hovered above the Yakima Air Terminal earlier this week, firefighters stacked pallets on the tarmac to ensure it could land safely.
Details of the operation last Sunday were not released by the Yakima Fire Department until this morning.
The King County Sheriff’s Office helicopter had been attempting to land searchers on Mount Adams, when its fuselage and one of its skids were badly damaged after striking a rock outcropping.
The helicopter headed to Yakima, which was the nearest airport with a full-time fire crew on site.
Several members of the crew and searchers jumped from the craft as it hovered just feet from the tarmac, according to a news release issued by the Yakima Fire Department.
Then, in order to compensate for the broken skid, firefighters began stacking pallets for one side of the helicopter to settle on. The craft then landed without further incident.
The helicopter was one of several being used to search for a 60-year-old man who has been missing on Mount Adams since Sunday. That search is scheduled to continue today.
