奇速英语

观光直升机挡风玻璃被飞鸟撞碎紧急迫降

A scenic helicopter tour over Manhattan ended in a scene from an action movie on Friday when a bird clashed into the chopper. It forced the pilot to make an emergency landing at a Chelsea heliport with six frightened tourists onboard, authorities said.

The chopper, operated by Helicopter Flight Services, was 1,500 feet over water, flying south over the Hudson River, when the bird smashed into its windshield（挡风玻璃）about 2:45 p.m., officials said. With the left side of the windshield blown out, the pilot made an emergency landing at the West 30th St. Heliport, Helicopter Flight Services General Manager Kathleen Wiig said.

“The pilot had to land as soon as he could,” Wiig said. “The safest place was the W. 30th St. Heliport, so he told them he was coming in. Fortunately our pilots have practiced dealing with unexpected situations, so they kept their cool.” The pilot landed the helicopter safely and no one was injured.

It was unclear what type of bird hit the helicopter. Its body fell into the ocean after the strike. The helicopter was carrying six passengers — four were Americans who were visiting Manhattan and two coming from Germany. “They were shaken up, but they were all fine,” Wiig said.

The helicopter had taken off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport on Pier 6 and had done a loop around Manhattan before the bird strike occurred. “We have heard of bird-plane crash,” said a passenger, “but never had we experienced one. It was horrible. The pilot was great to land us down.”

Wiig offered the tourists vouchers for another helicopter tour, but they declined. They did accept the company’s offer of free dinners and a hotel stay, she said. “The situation was out of our control, but we did not want to leave them with a bad taste in their mouth,” she said.

The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the incident.