The Kansas City Police Department helicopter made an emergency landing Wednesday night.
Just before 8:30 p.m., the police helicopter experienced a mechanical problem, causing the pilots to make an emergency landing in the intersection of Independence and Elmwood.
Police said the pilots were able to land the helicopter upright and as a result they were not injured.
First glimpse of KCPD helicopter that made an emergency landing at Independence/Elmwood. No injuries.@41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/kXH8yLkg1Q
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) August 4, 2016
An aviation source who talked with the two KCPD pilots that made the emergency landing said, given the circumstances, the pilots had “no other options,” and were “lucky they had a place to put [the helicopter].”
Preliminary reports suggest pilots encountered a malfunction of an engine subsystem that diminished power to the MD 500E chopper.
Crews are investigating to confirm.
The aviation source said they are proud of the pilots' actions and added the pilots had “control of the aircraft all the way down.”
41 Action News requested maintenance inspection reports on the helicopter.
Skytracker pilot Gregg Bourdon said inspection intervals are set by helicopter manufacturers.
“Some of its flight time, some of its calendar time,” said Bourdon.
Skytracker’s Bell206 helicopter receives inspections at least every 50 flight hours, according to Bourdon.
Bourdon has trained alongside some of the KCPD pilots and that training involves scenarios like the one faced by the KCPD pilots Wednesday night.
“They train for all types of critical failures of the helicopter. Minor failures of the helicopter,” said Cpt. Stacey Graves with Kansas City police. “The training and the constant emphasis on that training paid off [Wednesday] night. There was no injuries and the helicopter was able to land safely without any injuries to the officers or the public.”
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