In a post Thursday on its Facebook page, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reported a dramatic action taken earlier this month by the SJSO Air Unit to help a plane in distress.
Just at 7 p.m. Feb. 4, the unit was alerted to an aircraft that had lost power 3,000 feet above the St. Johns River. The pilot wanted to land at a private airfield in the vicinity but, due to a lack of runway lighting, the pilot could not locate the runway.
SJSO Pilot Casey Kumar and Tactical Flight Officer Stephen Reece responded, contacting the pilot. The plane had regained partial power at 1,500 feet.
Kumar and Reece used their helicopter’s spotlight to illuminate the runway and the pilot made a safe landing.
Emergency personnel responded to assist the plane’s crew. No injuries were reported.
“As part of the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit, our main mission is to positively impact lives and save lives each and everyday,” according to the Facebook post. “In an uncommon mission set like this one, we are extremely happy that no one was harmed and everyone went home safe.”
