(Update, Nov. 10) Riverhead Police have identified the pilot of the ultralight helicopter that crash-landed in an Aquebogue sod field yesterday afternoon as Erwin S. Rodger, 71, of Mattituck.
Rodger told police that his Mosquito ultralight had a mechanical issue that forced him to bring it down in the farm field. He made the emergency landing without apparent major injury to himself, but was brought to PBMC for evaluation.
The FAA was notified and will investigate, police said.
A small helicopter crash landed in an Aquebogue sod field at about four o’clock this afternoon.
The ultralight helicopter is a kit that Rodger built himself. It is a small chopper that carries no passengers, police said.
(Original story) The male pilot and sole occupant of the craft seems to have escaped serious injury, police said, though he was confused and disoriented. He told responding officers he did not know what happened, police said. He was conscious and alert and was walking around at the scene of the crash before being placed in an ambulance and transported by Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Peconic Bay Medical Center.
The helicopter took off out of the Mattituck airport, according to Riverhead police on the scene. It was a one-person, kit-built, homemade craft, police said
Police said they had not yet determined the man’s identity.
Riverhead Fire Department was immediately deployed to the scene in case of a fire.
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