Police Copter Makes Abrupt Landing in Field at College

A Los Angeles police helicopter made an abrupt landing in an open field at Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Wednesday after instruments erroneously indicated it was losing engine power.

It was the second such landing in less than 24 hours. A private helicopter made an emergency landing Tuesday night in the middle of Lankershim Boulevard after it lost power, police said.

The LAPD copter was on its way to a police pursuit of a hit-and-run driver in North Hills about 2:15 p.m. when an alarm sounded indicating the engine was losing power and the engine gauges bottomed out, pilot Jack Brandt said.

He immediately landed in a field at Pierce College, where an LAPD mechanic determined that the engine gauge had malfunctioned and the engine was fine, Brandt said.

The LAPD in June grounded three of its aging helicopters because of mechanical difficulties, and still has several helicopters that experts say are outdated and overused. But officials said the helicopter that malfunctioned Wednesday was purchased new in 1989, and is one of the newest units in the fleet.

Wednesday’s helicopter landing was not as dramatic as Tuesday night’s. About 9 p.m., LAPD Sgt. Woody Iddhi said, police officers on bicycle patrol along Lankershim noticed a private helicopter dropping toward the boulevard, and quickly blocked off traffic in the 5000 block.

“It’s a good thing we had the bicycle units out there,” Iddhi said.

The helicopter landed safely, and its four passengers and pilot were uninjured, Iddhi said. The helicopter had left Van Nuys Airport earlier, taking four French tourists for a sightseeing jaunt over Los Angeles, but lost its power over North Hollywood, Iddhi said.

A mechanic, who was flown in by another helicopter, fixed the craft, and it took off about 90 minutes later, opening up the street, Iddhi said.