No Injuries As Montgomery County Neighborhood Gets Unscheduled Visitor

A PennSTAR aeromedical helicopter was forced to execute an emergency landing in the middle of a suburban neighborhood in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania when it experienced an unspecified mechanical issue and the pilot was credited with controlling the out-of-control aircraft and putting it down safely on a lawn between two houses.

There were no injuries and no property damage was reported except where the helicopter actually landed.

Christopher Ward, Whitemarsh Police Chief, said, “We got very lucky tonight, it's a miracle. 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."

The helicopter was flying from Penn Presbyterian Medial Center to Wings Field in Blue Bell to refuel prior to picking up a patient in Chester County. There were no patients in the helo and the three crew members on board were all able to walk away from the aircraft.

An FAA accident investigation team arrived on site a few hours later and began the preliminary investigation.

Francis Ford, a nearby resident and student pilot said he heard the aircraft coming down, saying, "It's pretty crazy. 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."

PennSTAR Flight is a licensed air ambulance service for Penn Medicine, the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. It provides rapid transportation within a 100-mile radius of the University of Pennsylvania Health System for patients in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The aircraft and crew are provided by Shreveport, Louisiana-based Metro Aviation, a provider of aircraft, crew, and training for numerous air ambulance services nationwide.

FMI:  www.metroaviation.com/