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A medical helicopter crashed down into a residential Philadelphia suburban area in the afternoon hours of Jan. 11, 2022. Thankfully all passengers including an infant survived the terrifying event.
Around 1 p.m. CT rescue crews dashed to the crash that happened at an intersection located in Upper Darby’s Drexel Hill community. The helicopter landed near a church.
Upon arriving on the scene, emergency medical team members pulled the pilot, two crew members, and an infant patient from the mangled aircraft. Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy M. Berhardt announced the news during a press conference.
Miraculously, none of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries. Bernhardt added that he was looking forward to shaking the pilot’s hand. It was amazing the pilot navigated the aircraft in such a manner that no one was fatally injured and minimal damage occurred.
The infant was taken to a hospital, however, according to Bernhardt the child’s family had not been notified prior to the press conference. The helicopter flight originated out of the state of Pennsylvania.
Videos and images from the crash show the damaged aircraft on its side underneath powerlines outside of a church. On the side of the aircraft is a medical insignia.
Bernhardt indicated the whole scene was “a miracle, it’s an absolute miracle, here what you see behind me.”
A man doing maintenance on a nearby building witnessed the crash. Jarrell Saunders, 28 years old, stated the helicopter seemed to “just floating, like real low, like extremely low, like it could land on the building that I work at.”
Saunders was heading to the hardware store at the time of the accident. The aircraft was heading in the same direction Saunders was going to the store. The young man stated that the helicopter crashed onto the middle of the road before skidding across the ground until it smashed into the church.
Written by Sheena Robertson
Source:
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Helicopter crashes in suburban Philly; no serious injuries
Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Chad Horwedel’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Alex Lewis’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License