Full Story On Helicopter Landing At Middletown High School North

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Middletown Police just released more information about the emergency helicopter landing Thursday morning at Middletown High School North:

At approximately 9:30 a.m., Middletown Police were notified by school officials that a helicopter just made an emergency landing on the school campus.

Police responded and found the commercial passenger helicopter landed on a baseball field in the rear of the school, adjacent to Marvin Road.

The chopper, operated by Zip Aviation of Caldwell, New Jersey had experienced an in-flight issue where an indicator light had come on. There were no passengers in the helicopter at the time.

The pilot, who is not being identified at this time, saw the field and determined it would be a safe place to make the emergency landing.

There were no students or faculty on the field or the surrounding areas.

"This incident is obviously an unusual one," said superintendent Jessica Alfone. "Our school’s faculty and staff acted swiftly to confirm that no students or other personnel were harmed. The incident had no impact on class scheduling, and we are not anticipating any interference with dismissal or after school activities. We are thankful that the pilot was not harmed."

“This incident demonstrates both the professionalism and close working relationship between the Middletown school district and our Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services and our collaborative effort to quickly respond to this unanticipated emergency," said Chief of Police R. Craig Weber.

Middletown Police notified the New Jersey State Police at the Regional Operations & Intelligence Center (NJ ROIC), which in turn notified the FAA and the NTSB.