Mass State Police Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing on Nasella Field

A Massachusetts State Police helicopter made an emergency landing in Wakefield on Thursday morning when a mechanical warning light illuminated while the aircraft was flying over Wakefield, forcing the pilot to land on on Water Street around 11 a.m.

No smoke was showing from the engine and there were no injuries to the two passengers on board, a tactical officer and a pilot, who safely landed the helicopter. The field, a baseball field and small playground, was deserted when the helicopter landed.

Besides the warning light, there were no other indicators that there was a problem on board, said Major Rich Prior of the Massachusetts State Police, but the helicopter chose an emergency landing in the park just to be on the safe side.

"They washed that helicopter yesterday so there could be some condensation in the engine, that's all," Major Prior said.

After letting the helicopter sit on the ground for a while, the pilots re-started the engine to see if the light would remain on or if it had turned off. If it turned back on, maintenance crews would need to be called to inspect the engine before it could take off again.

As of 12 p.m. on Wednesday, a small crowd of neighbors, news crews, families - including their kids and their dogs - had gathered to see the helicopter on the ground.

"I was pulling out of my driveway when I heard the noise and looked up and saw the helicopter really close to the ground," said Wally Moccia, a Bancroft St. resident. " It did not sound good."

State Police officials said inspection crews were on the way, but that the helicopter would not be able to leave Nasella Field until the issue causing the emergency light to illuminate was fixed.

This particular helicopter was assigned to patrol the Boston area looking for students not in school as part of the unofficallly recognized "school skip day" at Boston Public Schools.