Sunday, November 20, 2011

New Jersey: Leaky helicopter stranded at hospital

TRENTON — A medical evacuation helicopter was stranded on the helicopter landing pad of Capital Health Regional Medical Center yesterday because of a leaking fuel tank, a city fire official said.

A Trenton fire crew dedicated to handling hazardous materials was dispatched to the hospital around noon on reports that dozens of gallons of combustible fuel were leaking from the helicopter, Battalion Chief Robert Tharp said.

Keystone Medflight, the company that operates the helicopter, had already delivered the patient to the hospital when the leak was discovered, he said.

“The built-in safety system had recovered a portion of the spill, which was not as large as reported,” Tharp said. “It ended up being about two to three gallons.”

After firefighters cleaned up the spill, the helicopter remained at the helipad until maintenance workers from Reading, Pa., could arrive to repair the damaged tank, he said.

No injuries were reported in the incident.

No comments:

Post a Comment