Air ambulance crew forced into emergency landing

The crew of the local air ambulance service was forced to make an emergency landing yesterday (Thursday) after attending a mission.
By Nick Rennie
Published 23rd Apr 2021, 11:52 BST
Crew members with the Derbyshire, Leicestershire& Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) - an emergency landing needed to be made this week after a bird strike EMN-210423-114426001Crew members with the Derbyshire, Leicestershire& Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) - an emergency landing needed to be made this week after a bird strike EMN-210423-114426001
Crew members with the Derbyshire, Leicestershire& Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) - an emergency landing needed to be made this week after a bird strike EMN-210423-114426001

The cockpit window of their AgustaWestland109 helicopter was smashed by a bird striking it as the aircraft carried a team from the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) back to their airbase at East Midlands Airport.

The pilot had to make a controlled landing in the Peak District, close to Carsington Water, at around 1.30pm.

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A spokesperson for the charity said: “One of our helicopters, registration G-TAAS, suffered a bird strike forcing our crew to carry out an emergency landing following extensive damage to the cockpit window.

“All crew have emergency operating procedures for incidents, and these were followed methodically.

“The crew of the helicopter are very experienced and ensured the safe landing of the damaged aircraft.”

The DLRAA team were not injured and the helicopter is now being assessed by engineers to determine its airworthiness before it returns to operational duties.

Bird strikes on helicopters are a very rare occurrence and the charity would like to thank the landowner for their support during the incident.

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