|
|
|
Independence, MO —
Independence police officers Pat Miller and Sean Allwood were working a car accident at Noland Road and 45th Street Thursday afternoon when they noticed something unusual.
“He said, ‘That military helicopter is flying awfully low,’ ” Miller said of Allwood’s reaction. “I said, ‘What helicopter?’
“I turned around and saw it coming down in this field.”
Pilots from Whiteman Air Force Base were forced to make an emergency landing with their U.S. Army Apache helicopter in a field near Noland Road and 44th Street at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday.
While on a training mission over Interstate 70 in Independence, the pilots noticed the helicopter’s hydraulics failing and immediately looked for a place to land. They put it down in a small field just west of the Noland South shopping center parking lot.
“I said, ‘It’s going to land in that field over there,’” Miller said. “I drove over here and radioed in, saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a military helicopter in this field near Noland South, and I don’t know if it’s supposed to be here or not.’ ”
It wasn’t supposed to be there. Independence Fire Department Assistant Chief Joe Lay said the landing, though, was with full power and was not a hard landing. No one was injured and no damage was done to the helicopter or surrounding property.
The pilots were still at the scene late in the afternoon. Lay said they had already communicated with Whiteman officials before police and fire officials had arrived. A mechanical team was being assembled and on its way from Whiteman to fix the problem.
“It’s going to be here all night while they work on it, and they should be able to fly it out of here (Friday),” Lay said.
Lay said the pilots indicated it was a routine training mission and the helicopter was unarmed.
“When they noticed the problems with the hydraulics, they thought it would be best to put it down instead of trying to make it to the airport. They wanted to make it a safe landing instead of taking a chance.
“They saw the first empty field and made a nice, safe landing.”
Independence police officers Pat Miller and Sean Allwood were working a car accident at Noland Road and 45th Street Thursday afternoon when they noticed something unusual.
“He said, ‘That military helicopter is flying awfully low,’ ” Miller said of Allwood’s reaction. “I said, ‘What helicopter?’
“I turned around and saw it coming down in this field.”
Pilots from Whiteman Air Force Base were forced to make an emergency landing with their U.S. Army Apache helicopter in a field near Noland Road and 44th Street at about 3:40 p.m. Thursday.
While on a training mission over Interstate 70 in Independence, the pilots noticed the helicopter’s hydraulics failing and immediately looked for a place to land. They put it down in a small field just west of the Noland South shopping center parking lot.
“I said, ‘It’s going to land in that field over there,’” Miller said. “I drove over here and radioed in, saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got a military helicopter in this field near Noland South, and I don’t know if it’s supposed to be here or not.’ ”
It wasn’t supposed to be there. Independence Fire Department Assistant Chief Joe Lay said the landing, though, was with full power and was not a hard landing. No one was injured and no damage was done to the helicopter or surrounding property.
The pilots were still at the scene late in the afternoon. Lay said they had already communicated with Whiteman officials before police and fire officials had arrived. A mechanical team was being assembled and on its way from Whiteman to fix the problem.
“It’s going to be here all night while they work on it, and they should be able to fly it out of here (Friday),” Lay said.
Lay said the pilots indicated it was a routine training mission and the helicopter was unarmed.
“When they noticed the problems with the hydraulics, they thought it would be best to put it down instead of trying to make it to the airport. They wanted to make it a safe landing instead of taking a chance.
“They saw the first empty field and made a nice, safe landing.”
