Helicopter Makes 'Hard Landing' In Downtown Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — One man found an unconventional solution to beat the evening rush hour in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. He landed a helicopter in the middle of the business district around 5 p.m. No one was injured, but the propellers clipped the roof of a nearby Mercedes SUV.

"Honestly, man I’m a war vet. I kind of looked behind and said, 'hey there’s a helicopter there,'" explained Zack Leeds, a former Marine who was working inside the Title Boxing Club at 350 SE 2nd St. when the two-seater set down outside.

"It was kind of cool. Nobody freaked out," he told Patch. "They didn’t crash. They just landed really hard."

The owner of the business scooped up his 12-year-old daughter, who was doing her homework at the time, and carried her to a safer location, according to Title Boxing Club manager Baylee Hess. She said that a 5:15 p.m. boxing class was held as planned, but that customers had a hard time getting into the gym for a time.

"I was standing by the back door," she recalled. "All of a sudden we see this helicopter and it looks like it was veering into our window."

Once the fear passed, people started taking video and snapping photos of the chopper.

"It was exciting but not exciting," she added. "We're just glad they're okay."

The two people who were aboard the aircraft when it made its unscheduled landing managed to escape without injury, according to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue which dispatched units from the 2nd Battalion to the scene.

The FAA had not yet responded to a request from Patch for more information.

Watch video of the scene below:

Photo and video by Baylee Hess of the Title Boxing Club, 350 SE 2nd St in Fort Lauderdale.