(FOX40.COM) — Sacramento Metro Fire said one of its helicopters had a door come off in the middle of a flight and land in a home’s backyard on Tuesday.
The agency said that the helicopter was returning from a hoist rescue drill at Folsom Lake when an officer onboard noticed “that the sliding door appeared to be detaching from the aircraft.”
The flight crew slowed down and was preparing to land when the door completely detached and fell to the ground.
Afterward, the helicopter landed in Douglas Ranch Park and the door was retrieved from a backyard.
Nobody was injured by the fallen door, and the helicopter was a 1972 Huey UH-1H, which was last upgraded in 2014, Metro Fire said.
A statement from a spokesperson said, “We are grateful that no injuries resulted from this occurrence. A comprehensive safety review is currently underway. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District reaffirms its unwavering commitment to delivering the highest level of emergency response and service to our communities.”
Metro Fire also advised that the helicopter received the required preflight inspections and had received the regularly scheduled inspections that occur after every 25 hours of flight time and that all maintenance was completed.