Helicopter makes emergency landing on lawn in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
A medical helicopter landed on the lawn of a home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Monday night.
No one was injured in the emergency landing that happened just after 7:40 p.m. on Musket Road near Cannon Hill Road in Whitemarsh Township, officials said.
"We got very lucky tonight, it's a miracle," Whitemarsh Police Chief Christopher Ward said on Monday. "The pilot did an amazing job from all accounts. As out of control as it was, he controlled it into an area and was able to put it down without striking, luckily for us, any homes, any vehicles or any people."
One person was in the house closest to the landing site when the aircraft came down, and some children and families were outside in the neighborhood at the time, Ward said. According to officials, no one was injured and no property was damaged except for where the helicopter landed.
The helicopter was flying from Penn Presbyterian Medical Center to Wings Field in Blue Bell for refueling before going to pick up a patient at a hospital in Chester County, officials said. Only three crew members were on board the helicopter at the time, and all were able to walk away from the aircraft.
The three people on board were taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center to be evaluated, according to the Penn spokesperson.
Chopper 3 was over the scene and captured the PennSTAR helicopter near a driveway.
The helicopter is owned and operated by Metro Aviation, the Penn Medicine spokesperson said. It's part of Penn Medicine's PennSTAR program, which provides transportation between medical centers for critical patients and offers on-scene care during emergencies.
A team from the Federal Aviation Administration arrived at the scene a few hours after the landing and took over the investigation.
Whitemarsh Township police are asking anyone in the area who finds debris that could be connected to the incident not to touch it and to call them by dialing 911.
Francis Ford, who lives in the neighborhood, said he heard the helicopter coming down.
"It's pretty crazy," he said, adding that he's a student pilot. "The pilots did a really good job, I think they definitely knew what they were doing. I think that they deserve a lot of credit for keeping everybody safe and for everything that they do as well."
Crews took pieces of the helicopter apart Tuesday as the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA continue to investigate.
"I came out just to stare at it again," said Heather Heenan, who lives nearby. "I can't believe that happened."
Heenan said her daughter saw it all happen.
"Tried pulling me over to tell me that she saw a helicopter spinning like this coming down into the trees," she said.
On Tuesday, an NTSB spokesperson said the helicopter will be moved to a secure facility in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, for further investigation.
