The FBI on Monday investigated the shooting at an Air Force helicopter.
The FBI is investigating the shooting of a U.S. Air Force helicopter as it flew over Northern Virginia on Monday.
One crew member was slightly injured, according to the FBI and the Air Force. The UH-1N Huey helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing at a nearby airport and a bullet was discovered in the airframe.
On Monday afternoon, the helicopter of the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Base Andrews flew a routine training mission over Middleburg, Virginia, at an altitude of 1,000 feet when the fire took off from the ground, an Air Force spokesman said. McClatchy was the first to report the shooting incident.
Already trained for an instrument approach to Manassas Regional Airport, the helicopter diverted snow to the airport to make an emergency landing.
“The airport received a call from the Manassas Control Tower on Monday at 12:20 p.m. about an inbound military helicopter that had an emergency source and that paramedics would arrive shortly,” said Pattie Prince, the communications manager for the city of Manassas.
The helicopter arrived safely at 12:43 a.m. and “initial findings are that the helicopter was hit by a bullet that resulted in a minor injury to an Air Force member and damage to the aircraft,” the Air Force spokesman said.
“The crew member” received a non-threatening injury, which is why he was treated and then released from the hospital, “a spokesman for the FBI’s Washington Field Office said.
“The FBI Washington Field Office (WFO) sent special agents and their Evidence Response Team to Manassas Airport after receiving reports that a helicopter had hit a ground nearby,” the FBI spokesman said.
“WFO is working with our law enforcement partners, including the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the spokesman said.
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