Post by Admin on Apr 22, 2008 4:05:12 GMT -6
California National Guard helicopter makes hard landing
GEORGETOWN, Calif.—A California National Guard helicopter on an anti-drug mission was forced to make a hard landing in the Sierra Nevada foothills Thursday. All three people aboard survived.
National Guard Lt. Col. Jon Siepmann said the helicopter made the emergency landing on a dirt road surrounded by hilly terrain a mile from the Georgetown airport. The region is about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento.
The two pilots and a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer aboard were not injured, but the four-seat, OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter had significant damage. A crash team was investigating.
Siepmann would not release the pilots' identities, citing the drug enforcement effort. The helicopter was based at Mather Airport near Sacramento.
Last year, law enforcement agencies in California found a record amount of marijuana growing in illicit gardens, often on public land. With the coming of spring, growers are beginning to prepare their plots.
"The aircraft was on a general reconnaissance flight over suspected drug-growing areas in the forest," Eldorado National Forest spokesman Frank Mosbacher said. "We are aggressively seeking to identify marijuana plantations, and these operations are dangerous."
Siepmann said it is common for National Guard helicopters to make up to three such flights a day during the height of the marijuana growing and harvesting season.
GEORGETOWN, Calif.—A California National Guard helicopter on an anti-drug mission was forced to make a hard landing in the Sierra Nevada foothills Thursday. All three people aboard survived.
National Guard Lt. Col. Jon Siepmann said the helicopter made the emergency landing on a dirt road surrounded by hilly terrain a mile from the Georgetown airport. The region is about 40 miles northeast of Sacramento.
The two pilots and a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer aboard were not injured, but the four-seat, OH-58 Kiowa observation helicopter had significant damage. A crash team was investigating.
Siepmann would not release the pilots' identities, citing the drug enforcement effort. The helicopter was based at Mather Airport near Sacramento.
Last year, law enforcement agencies in California found a record amount of marijuana growing in illicit gardens, often on public land. With the coming of spring, growers are beginning to prepare their plots.
"The aircraft was on a general reconnaissance flight over suspected drug-growing areas in the forest," Eldorado National Forest spokesman Frank Mosbacher said. "We are aggressively seeking to identify marijuana plantations, and these operations are dangerous."
Siepmann said it is common for National Guard helicopters to make up to three such flights a day during the height of the marijuana growing and harvesting season.