Emergency crews from Plymouth responded to Gill Park behind the Boys and Girls Club just after 6 Thursday evening for an initial report of a helicopter crash. Before crews even made it to the scene dispatchers notified them that the pilot, Plymouth Police Officer Gary Cleveland had made a “hard” landing but everyone was fine.
The home-built,light-sport helicopter apparently had an engine failure and Cleveland had to complete an auto rotation to the nearest landing area which was the open space in Gill Park just off Polk Street.
Cleveland had his 66 year old father on board and neither was injured during the emergency landing.
The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department is conducting the local investigation since the pilot involved is an officer with the Plymouth Police Department. The NTSB was notified of the incident and the South Bend FAA released the aircraft to moved since there were no injuries.
Dave Lattimer, Manager of the Plymouth Municipal Airport said Cleveland purchased the helicopter about 18 months ago and it is based at the local airport. Lattimer said, “Gary has proven to be a very good pilot.”
