Kids & Family
Woodbridge Pilot Safely Lands Helicopter on the Hudson
Mike Campbell, 23, made an emergency landing of his tour helicopter on Sunday.
A 23-year-old pilot pulled off an emergency landing of his helicopter with four tourist passengers aboard Sunday, so smoothly that none of them even got wet.
Michael Campbell, of Woodbridge, is New York City's youngest tour pilot, The New York Post reported. He told the Post that everything was going well while he was flying his normal daily route, until he heard a big boom and confirmed that the engine went out.
The Bell 206 helicopter was flying at 1,500 feet for about 12 minutes along the West Side’s shoreline as part of a sightseeing tour with Campbell’s company New York Helicopter.
“I first had to confirm my biggest fear — that the engine was out,” Campbell told the Post. “I just needed to stay calm — because if I panicked, I knew it wouldn’t be a very good ending.”
He used the fact that helicopters can glide to his advantage and was able to make a smooth landing, which harmed no one.
“I was just doing my job,” he told reporters.
Boaters rescued the Swedish family of four on board who came off with not even a scratch. Another boater rescued Campbell from the water.
Campbell has been flying at New York Helicopter for about a year, according to LinkedIn, but graduated from the Professional Pilot Program at Bristow academy in 2011. Prior to New York Helicopters he was a certified flight instructor in Long Island and New York City for Helicopter Flight Training.
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