The UH-1N was traveling 10 miles northwest of Manassas on a regime education mission at an altitude of 1,000 feet when the incident occurred. It landed safely at Manassas Regional Airport west of Washington, DC, and the pilot was taken to clinic exactly where they ended up handled and released, the formal reported.
The incident is now under FBI and Air Pressure investigation to establish if the helicopter was deliberately shot at or if a person was randomly shooting into the air. The aircraft will be carefully inspected for other hurt, the formal included.
The airport functions officer Richard Allabaugh described its air targeted traffic management tower was notified of an “an onboard crisis on a navy helicopter that was inbound.”
The pilots of the US Air Drive helicopter, which determined itself as Mussel 16, can be heard reporting “a clinical emergency” in air visitors handle audio. The aircraft at first scrapped options to land at Manassas Regional Airport then knowledgeable controllers it would be heading “direct to Manassas.”
Paramedics ended up named to the airport.
The US Air Force 316th wing only confirmed an incident transpired and that the helicopter produced an unexpected emergency landing on Monday.
“A UH-1N Huey helicopter assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Foundation Andrews executed an unexpected emergency landing at 12:43 pm on August 10th in Manassas, Va all through a regimen teaching mission,” the assertion browse.
“The Business office of Special Investigations is totally engaged with our FBI colleagues on this incident. OSI get threats to our Airmen and our methods extremely critically. As this is an ongoing investigation, no even further investigative information can be released at this time,” it included.
“On Monday, August 10, at about 12:00 p.m., the FBI Washington Area Office (WFO) dispatched Distinctive Agents and its Evidence Response Staff to the Manassas Airport immediately after receiving reviews that a helicopter was shot at from the ground close by,” the FBI Washington Area Workplace reported in a assertion to CNN.
“WFO is doing work jointly with our regulation enforcement partners, together with the Air Force Office of Unique Investigations, to establish the circumstances bordering the incident. A single particular person in the helicopter sustained a non-threatening personal injury, for which he was treated and subsequently launched from the clinic The FBI asks that everyone in close proximity to this location at the time of the incident who may possibly have data be sure to phone the FBI at 202-278-2000,” they extra.
CNN’s Christina Carrega, Greg Wallace and Pete contributed to this report.
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