Canadian military chopper forced to land in Nfld. after noise, vibration
GANDER, Nfld. (CP) - A Canadian military helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing Saturday after the crew heard a loud noise and the chopper began to vibrate.
The Cormorant helicopter from Gander was heading back to base after completing a medical evacuation when the problem arose, said Lieut. Pat Jessup. The chopper landed safely about 50 kilometres east of Gander.
"There was a loud bang which caused the Cormorant to vibrate, and the crew made a controlled emergency landing on a beach in Terra Nova Lake," said Jessup, a spokesperson for the search and rescue centre in Halifax.
"They're on the beach, the crew is safe and there is no apparent damage to the aircraft."
The helicopter, with a crew of five and three civilian members of a trauma team, had been dispatched to the scene of a car accident in Twillingate, Nfld.
A patient was flown to hospital in St. John's, Nfld.
Another Cormorant crew in Gander was to fly to Terra Nova Lake to examine the stricken chopper before it will be allowed to take off again, said Jessup.