A New York Police Department helicopter was forced to ditch in the water in Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, New York Wednesday afternoon. As it was approaching a helibase, it experienced a problem, lost altitude, and landed in the water about 50 feet from shore. The pilot activated the pop-out floats on the skids which inflated before the ship hit the water and the helicopter remained upright.
A NYPD boat arrived at the scene quickly and the six passengers and crew members were able to step from the helicopter into the boat. One of the passengers had a minor injury, and one of the four main rotor blades broke in half, striking the helicopter’s windscreen.
I have seen pop-out floats on helicopters before, but until now did not know what they looked like inflated.
Here is a video of a test of pop-out floats on a Bell 206.
