PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – A St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office helicopter made an emergency landing Wednesday on the 17th fairway of the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass, which is the sister track to The Players Stadium Course, authorities said.
It happened early Wednesday evening at the course, which wasn’t open at the time, near 7 Mile Drive and Tournament Players Club Boulevard.
The Sheriff’s Office spokesman told News4Jax the helicopter’s pilot and co-pilot were on patrol, flying the perimeter of The Players Championship at about 1,100 feet in the air, just before 6 p.m. when the pilot realized there was a mechanical issue and needed to set the Bell OH-58 on the ground.
Undersheriff Matt Cline said the pilot was able to put the helicopter, known as Air-1, in autorotation and land safely on an open area of the golf course with no trees.
Autorotation is the process of allowing the helicopter to safely glide to the ground thanks to lift that is produced by fast-moving rotor blades, even after engine failure. In Wednesday’s case, the pilot had mere minutes to get the helicopter safely on the ground.
“Probably around two to three minutes — he was landing the bird with no power,” Cline said.
Not only did the pilot have to land without power, he had to navigate the helicopter around obstacles.
“He had to fly this helicopter over a bunch of power lines that are probably almost 100 feet in the air,” Cline said. “He had to clear those then clear an oak tree and then bring it in on autorotation right onto the fairway.”
Fortunately, no one was injured.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the National Transportation Safety Board will be the lead investigating agency looking into what happened and the helicopter won’t be moved until sometime Thursday.
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