Helicopter crash-lands downtown
No one was injured in Lauderdale accident
A rescue official called the emergency landing “absolutely amazing” after the chopper landed in Fort Lauderdale, its tail rotor broke off and careened 100 feet — and nobody was injured.
A helicopter lost its tail while crashing on a downtown Fort Lauderdale street during rush hour Wednesday, authorities said. No one was injured.
The “hard landing” happened at about 5 p.m. at 350 SE Second St., south of Broward Boulevard, said Deputy Chief Tim Heiser, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.
“It was a loud crashing sound,” said Zack Leeds, of Title Boxing Club, which is right next to where the helicopter crash-landed. “When we looked behind us we were surprised to see a helicopter with two guys in it who didn’t look like they had any idea what was going on.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating the crash of the Schweizer 269-C helicopter. Preliminary information was that it had departed from the Downtown Fort Lauderdale Heliport, at 201 SE Second St., an FAA spokeswoman said.
Pilot Sultan Saidmuratov, 26, and Alex Marshall, 48, were on board and escaped harm, said Casey Liening, a spokeswoman for Fort Lauderdale police.
The crash site was one block down from an Offerdahl’s restaurant.
The broken rotor flew about 100 feet from where the helicopter landed, Heiser said.
“For the amount of space the pilot had to put that helicopter down, it is absolutely amazing that no one was injured when the tail rotor snapped off, or when the helicopter landed,” Heiser said.
Police blocked traffic along the street, which is parallel to and a block north of East Las Olas Boulevard.