Pilot, Border Patrol agent injured during hard landing on Mexican side of Rio Grande
A helicopter pilot and Border Patrol agent were injured when a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) chopper went down on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande this week, according to reports.
The crash landing unfolded on Thursday afternoon in Nuevo Laredo, a city in Tamaulipas state across the border from Laredo, Texas.
CBP says the crew was engaged in a “routine operation” in the skies above the Rio Grande when they were forced to make an “emergency landing” in a wooded area, a photo provided to NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley indicates.
Photo of CBP AMO chopper after the emergency landing in Mexico across from Laredo via sources: pic.twitter.com/Sw1tMdvsFS
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) July 26, 2024
The CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) pilot and a Border Patrol agent, who was acting as an observer, both managed to make their way across the river to the U.S. and seek medical attention.
“The helicopter went down on the Mexican side,” Laredo Fire Department spokesman Herman Martinez told Border Report.
“They were patrolling the river and the nearest land was on the Mexican side so they went down there. They were kind of stranded on the Mexican side. But they were able to walk to the river and got on a boat.”
Photographs obtained by Old Patrol HQ reportedly show the pilot and agent being checked out by medics with at least one of the men strapped to a gurney in a neck brace.
?BREAKING
I got word a @CBPAMO helicopter had to make an emergency landing in Mexico on the other side of Laredo.The pilot and agent are are said to be all right, thank God!@CBP @DHSgov @JJCarrell14 @BrianOSheaSPI@KimWexlerMAJD@maldonation1@BrittRooted@TuckerCarlson… pic.twitter.com/wREyxySDO7
— BWD by Old Patrol HQ (@OldPatrolHQ) July 26, 2024
Both men, ages 41 and 43, were transported to a local hospital in stable condition and eventually released.
The cause of the crash is currently undetermined or undisclosed.
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