Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 8:08am
Helicopter door drops from the sky
ST. PAUL, Minn., July 16 (UPI) -- A door from a Minnesota National Guard helicopter is missing and the Guard wants it back.
Five minutes after takeoff and 1,500 feet aloft, the Chinook helicopter's 150-pound emergency door dropped, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Wednesday.
Where the door landed is a mystery, but National Guard officials said they think "the door exited the aircraft" east of U.S. Highway 61, west of Interstate 494 and south of Interstate 94 east of the Twin Cities, Col. Mike Huddleston told the newspaper.
"We're very concerned about the community and we'd like to have the community find this," said Huddleston, the Minnesota National Guard's director of army aviation.
No reports of damage or injuries have been filed, Huddleston said. The accident happened Tuesday during a routine training mission.
National Guard officials said they were investigating why the door fell off, he said. The door has an upper and lower locking system that operated manually instead of hinges.
Getting the door back is crucial to the investigation, Huddleston said, because officials want to learn whether there is a structural issue "that would cause a fleet-wide problem."
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Five minutes after takeoff and 1,500 feet aloft, the Chinook helicopter's 150-pound emergency door dropped, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Wednesday.
Where the door landed is a mystery, but National Guard officials said they think "the door exited the aircraft" east of U.S. Highway 61, west of Interstate 494 and south of Interstate 94 east of the Twin Cities, Col. Mike Huddleston told the newspaper.
"We're very concerned about the community and we'd like to have the community find this," said Huddleston, the Minnesota National Guard's director of army aviation.
No reports of damage or injuries have been filed, Huddleston said. The accident happened Tuesday during a routine training mission.
National Guard officials said they were investigating why the door fell off, he said. The door has an upper and lower locking system that operated manually instead of hinges.
Getting the door back is crucial to the investigation, Huddleston said, because officials want to learn whether there is a structural issue "that would cause a fleet-wide problem."
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