Technicians have pinpointed the reason a LifeFlight Eagle helicopter made an emergency landing Thursday at the Lake City Ammunition Plant.
Mechanics discovered the problem on Friday when they determined a sensory plug within the electrical system faltered, tripping an indicator light that warns pilots to get out of the air immediately.
“It wasn’t as if there was anything wrong with the engine,” said Ruby Mehrer, spokeswoman with LifeFlight Eagle.“It wasn’t an electrical short.”
At 9:49 a.m. Thursday, the pilot made an emergency landing at Lake City.
Right before the landing, an indicator light much like a “check engine” light on a vehicle went off. The light tells the pilot something isn’t right with the aircraft. The pilot must land as soon as possible when the light comes on.
“When there’s a light that says there might be something wrong with your engine, well then we’re going to land,” Mehrer said.
Lake City is known for tight security. But Mehrer said plant officials knew it was a LifeFlight helicopter because its printed name on the sides.
“They needed to make sure it was us in the helicopter,” she said.
Lake City officials confirmed it was a LifeFlight crew after they emerged from the helicopter. The crew contacted their base to pick them up.
A mechanic with LifeFlight checked out the machine at Lake City and couldn’t find anything wrong. They transported it back to headquarters and kept re-checking the machine until they found the problem on Friday.
The helicopter is back in service.
Meahrer said the helicopter wouldn’t have crashed if they continued to fly, but at the time pilots had no idea what was wrong.
The helicopter, based at the Central Jackson County Fire Prevention District Station No. 3. in Blue Springs, took off in route to pick up a patient.
The pilot, a nurse and a paramedic were on board at the time.
Officials dispatched another helicopter to pick-up the patient so services weren’t delayed.
“It’s pretty infrequent,” Meahrer said of emergency landings. “We don’t hit the news very often. We have a really ambitious maintenance schedule. Mechanics check the helicopters on a daily basis.”
LifeFlight Eagle has five helicopters that provide services to the Kansas City metropolitan area and surrounding area.
