News helicopter forced to make hard landing in Los Angeles

November 12th 2010

A TV news helicopter on Friday morning was forced to make an emergency landing at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles due to an engine failure, KCBS-TV and the FAA said.

"A helicopter took off from Whiteman and shortly thereafter made a hard landing under unknown circumstances at 7:50 a.m. The tail rotor came off. Neither of the two people on board was injured,” FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor told BNO News.

The news helicopter is regularly used by two local television channels, KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9.

The helicopter's pilot reported an engine failure, according to KCBS-TV but it is currently unknown if the failure occurred during flight or upon impact as the tail rotor and boom assembly were separated from the main body of the helicopter.

The San Fernando Valley airport is frequently used by aircraft related to news channels and other media.