Police helicopter crashes at Chesterfield airport during training mission

police helicopter
Photo credit (Getty Images)

CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (KMOX) - It could have been a lot worse, said an airport official on the crash landing made by a police helicopter at Spirit of St Louis Airport in Chesterfield on Thursday.

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The two people inside cockpit are fine as both refused medical treatment after the training mission went wrong.

"It looks a lot worse than it is because the helicopter is- basically, the tail is destroyed and the prop is destroyed," says the airport's director of aviation John Bales. "The cockpit and everything is intact. It didn't roll."

He says the trouble began when there was a "tail strike" as the chopper was approaching the ground.

Video from Fox 2 shows the chopper on the ground with the tail complete ripped off:

The FAA is currently investigating what went wrong.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: (Getty Images)