A crew member has been injured after shots were fired at an Air Force helicopter Wednesday at a Virginia airport.
The UH-1N helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing after someone shot at the aircraft as the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Joint Base Andrews was conducting a routine training flight, according to a base statement sent to McClatchy’s Washington, D.C., bureau. The FBI has begun an investigation into the incident. One individual in the helicopter sustained a non-threatening injury, which he was treated for and released from a nearby hospital.
The FBI “dispatched Special Agents and its Evidence Response Team to the Manassas Airport after receiving reports that a helicopter was shot at from the ground nearby,” the FBI’s Washington Field Office said in a statement.
Officials at Manassas Regional Airport said they received a call about 12:20 p.m. alerting them that “a military helicopter was inbound and that paramedics were on the way,” said airport operations officer Richard Allabaugh.
“The FBI Washington Field Office is working jointly with our law enforcement partners, including the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Joint Base Andrews, which is home to Air Force helicopter and fighter squadrons and the presidential aircraft Air Force One, said it had no further details to release.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the FBI by calling 202-278-2000.
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