Shane McMahon just survived a helicopter crash.
A small helicopter carrying McMahon and one other passenger made a “controlled landing” in the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island’s Gilgo Beach Wednesday morning, prompting a major emergency response.
The pilot of the Robinson R44 issued a Mayday call just before going into the water about a half-mile off shore around 10:25 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. A commercial flight heading to John F. Kennedy International Airport heard the call for help and notified FAA controllers.
The FAA described the incident as a crash, but video from the scene showed the red helicopter resting on pontoons, apparently not submerged. The four-seater Robinson R44 is designed to land in the water, Coast Guard officials say, and the pilot deployed the pontoons to allow the aircraft to land safely.
A Coast Guard official on scene said the helicopter, which had taken off from Westchester County Airport, had some sort of mechanical issue that prompted the ocean landing. The FAA is investigating.
“It’s very unsettling when all of a sudden you have something happen and hear a bang and then they say, ‘We’re going to do an emergency landing in the water,”” McMahon said when interviewed after the crash landing.
“It’s very unnerving, but again [the other passenger rescued] was calm, so I was calm and we landed perfectly.”
Shane McMahon involved in crash landing of helicopter. #wwe #shanemcmahon pic.twitter.com/I45ZKmuRqf
— Dirk (@EliteDirk) July 19, 2017
