No one hurt in emergency helo landings - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

No one hurt in emergency helo landings

Two Navy helicopters made precautionary emergency landings in downtown Jacksonville this morning after their main rotors touched in midflight. No one was injured.

The two SH-60F helicopters, assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 3, had left Jacksonville Naval Air Station — due south of the downtown area — at 7:55 a.m., said Miriam Gallet, an air station spokeswoman. About five minutes later, their main rotors came into contact with each other over the Main Street Bridge, which runs north-south over the St. Johns River, Gallet said.

The two helicopters landed on each side of the river, which splits the city: one on the north side, near a commercial shipyard; the other on the south side, near the Duval County School Board building, Gallet said.

There were six total aircrew members on one helo and five in the other, she said.

“No one was hurt, there was no fire, there was no crash,” Gallet said. “We are just very glad that none of the pilots or aircrew were harmed.”

She said the emergency landing was, from the Navy’s standpoint, “picture perfect.”

The helicopters, which are based in Jacksonville, were en route to Norfolk, Va., where they were to take part in an at-sea training exercise with the Norfolk-based carrier Harry S. Truman beginning Friday, Gallet said. The helicopters remain grounded while Navy crash teams examine the airframes, she said.

Other details, such as the helicopters’ speed and altitude at the time of the mishap, are not yet known. An investigation has been launched, Gallet said.