In the midst of a busy weekend where about 200 people were playing golf and 200 others were attending a banquet at the nearby clubhouse, a helicopter made an emergency landing on the Granada Hills, Calif. property. The aircraft lost power midflight which forced the emergency landing.
A civilian helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing at a Granada Hills golf course after the aircraft lost power Saturday afternoon, reported the Los Angeles Daily News.
On September 15th at 12:33 p.m. the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to calls from nearby residents of a “helicopter down” at the Knollwood CC golf course, fire department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.
The fire department dispatched 40 personnel since officials were unsure about how large the helicopter was and how many people were involved, the Daily News reported.
Fire officials determined there were two people on board and were both uninjured, reported the Daily News. The incident was reported to the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Before alerting aviation officials, fire officials had to confirm the helicopter was not a movie prop or part of a movie set for filming, which is common in the area, Humphrey said.
The helicopter, which belongs to a Van Nuys aviation school, Group 3 Aviation, was being used for a training exercise when the aircraft lost power and was forced to make the emergency landing, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The helicopter’s flight began at Van Nuys Airport, about six miles south of the golf course, a statement from Group 3 Aviation said.
Wade Berzas, the general manager of the golf course, said his facility was busy during the incident as about 200 people were playing golf, and 200 others were attending a banquet at the nearby clubhouse, reported the Daily News.
Berzas said the helicopter remained on the golf course Saturday afternoon as the aviation school was determining how to transport it off the property, the Daily News reported. He said his golf course is in the flight path of the Van Nuys Airport, but has never seen an incident like this occur.
“When it happened, I said, ‘Really?’ And I texted my friend saying I’ve never seen anything like this throughout my whole career,” said Berzas, who has been working at golf courses for more than 25 years.
Humphrey said the Van Nuys Airport is known as one of the busiest general use airports in the world, reported the Daily News.
“The Los Angeles basin is highly congested with aircraft with all types,” Humphrey said.
“We are in touch with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to gather all the facts of the helicopter incident. We cannot speculate or discuss details as we go through the steps with the NTSB and FAA,” Claudia Herrera, the president of Group Aviation 3, said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering additional information regarding this incident and will fully cooperate in this process.”
The helicopter was a Schweitzer 269 that “sustained substantial damage during emergency landing,” Allen Kenitzer of the FAA said, the Daily News reported.
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