From UTVs website
“No-one was injured when the two-man crew landed the aircraft on Portrush beach where people had gathered for the Irish Surfing Championships.
Eye witnesses said they saw smoke billowing from the back of the helicopter as it circled above the sea before coming down at around 11am.
Steven Montgomery said the helicopter descended very quickly.
“It was circling erratically around at sea. It was just about 20 metres out to sea and then it came in and landed,“ he said.
“It dropped in a matter of seconds on to the beach and it didn`t crash, but it wasn`t controlled. There was smoke streaming out at the back of the tail of it.
“The pilots got out sharpish.“
An army spokesman said the Lynx helicopter was on its way back to base at RAF Aldergrove when it was forced to make a controlled emergency landing.
“The helicopter was returning from Ballykelly to Aldergrove on a routine flight when the incident occurred,“ he said.
“A suspected engine fire is thought to be the cause although this will of course be subject to an investigation in due course by an air incident investigation team.“
The spokesman said a clean-up operation had already begun but was likely to take several hours to complete.
“Teams from Aldergrove and Ballykelly have been sent to the scene to initiate the recovery of the helicopter by road,“ he said.
“A further team has been sent to the site to ensure that any debris is cleared up and the scene is returned to its previous state.“
The helicopter was part of the 5th Regiment Army Air Corp and Joint Army Helicopter Force NI based at RAF Aldergrove in Co Antrim.
There are over 100 British Army Lynxes operating across the world. The craft is mainly used for transporting troops and equipment in Northern Ireland.”
I’ll get pics later at work at the minute
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