— A Florida Keys medical helicopter caught fire while landing on Friday.
Marathon, FL – A medical helicopter enroute to transport a stabbing victim, caught fire and landed on an Upper Keys soccer field.
Smoke and flames billowed out from beneath the rotors of one of Monroe County’s Trauma Star medical helicopters on the soccer field of Coral Shores High School in Plantation Key Friday morning, according to Monroe County Fire Rescue.
Deputy Becky Herrin, media relations officer with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, did not have much immediate detail about the stabbing, but there is a suspect in custody.
The helicopter is one of Monroe County’s three Trauma Star air ambulances and the oldest in the fleet, said county communications officer Cammy Clark.
No one was injured and the patient was taken by ground to nearby Mariners Hospital and later airlifted by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to another hospital.
The fire caused substantial damage to the 35-year-old aircraft, which had just undergone its complete annual maintenance as required by FAA, officials said.
The chopper is the county’s oldest and is one of three in the county’s helicopter ambulance fleet.
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