KEY BISCAYNE, FLA. (WSVN) - A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter made an emergency landing in Key Biscayne after striking a bird, Thursday morning.
According to the USCG, their MH-65 Dolphin helicopter was on a routine flight when the pilot was forced to land along Key Biscayne, around 10:30 a.m., due to possible damage caused after hitting a bird.
On board the helicopter were two pilots, a flight mechanic and a rescue swimmer. The crew was on a training mission at the time.
No injuries were reported, USCG said in a statement.
“This morning, we had a crew that was out flying in one of our helicopters, and they had, what we call, a bird strike, in which they hit a bird and declared an emergency,” said Coast Guard Capt. Michael Platt. “They realized that there was some potential damage to the helicopter, and they found the closest safe site to land, which happened to be Key Biscayne Beach. So we’re trained to fly the aircraft but also how to handle emergency procedures, and this crew did in fact maintain aircraft control, analyze the situation and took appropriate action, which is what our procedures tell us to do.”
Officials assessed the damage before the helicopter safely departed just before 1 p.m.
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