Helicopter Pilot Safe After Water Landing
A pilot whose helicopter developed engine problems off Anacapa Island escaped injury when he inflated the aircraft’s pontoons and made an emergency water landing Friday.
“Remarkably enough he landed and didn’t get hurt at all,” Coast Guard Petty Officer James Dubea said.
Aspen Helicopter owner Charles McLaughlin said pilot James McCrory was doing contract work for the U.S. Navy, patrolling the waters off the Channel Islands during routine missile testing, when the trouble developed.
McCrory told Coast Guard officials that he felt a kick in the helicopter’s tail, then saw every light and alarm on the control panel go off. He inflated the pontoons, landed, shut the engines off, radioed for help and waited.
“It was very weird just seeing this helicopter sitting in the ocean with this guy sitting in the pilot seat,” Dubea said. “He wasn’t hurt at all. He was just laughing and joking about it.”
The Coast Guard, National Park Service and the California Department of Fish and Game all responded to the accident, which took place about four miles from the east end of Anacapa Island.
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