Two Kansas Highway Patrol troopers escaped serious injury when the patrol helicopter they were occupying made a hard landing at an airport in Topeka, Kansas, the patrol said.
The accident happened early Friday when the Bell 407 helicopter's tail rotor hit a hangar at Philip Billard Municipal Airport, the patrol said.
The pilot, 54-year-old patrol Capt. Gregory Kyser, was taken to a hospital for observation and possible treatment. A passenger, 36-year old state trooper Ryan Nolte, was treated at a hospital for slight injuries.
Kyser, a Kansas trooper since 1988, is troop commander for the agency's air support unit and fleet operations, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. That troop is tasked with providing airborne police services to local, state and federal law enforcers, and emergency service agencies, according to the patrol's website.
The patrol, with aircraft based in Topeka, Wichita and Hays, maintains one Bell 407 helicopter and four fixed-wing Cessna airplanes, the patrol's website shows.
Kyser previously was injured in 2014 when a tractor-trailer hit his patrol car from behind as he sat legally parked near Topeka, the Capital-Journal reported.
