Baltimore Helicopter Forced to Land

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Nando Times

BALTIMORE (June 9, 2000 7:43 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - A Maryland National Guard helicopter carrying the Estonian ambassador made an emergency landing at Pimlico race track Friday.

No one in UH-60 Blackhawk was injured, and no horses or spectators were in the grassy infield of the track, where the Preakness is run.

The Guard was taking the ambassador and his party on an orientation flight over Baltimore when a warning light indicated a possible problem with the tail rotor, said Capt. Drew Sullins, a National Guard spokesman.

"(Pimlico) was the first big wide open space they knew of," Sullins said.

Track officials invited Ambassador Sven Jurgenson to lunch at the clubhouse, and the group watched a few races before departing.

"We made the best of it and everybody had a good time," track spokesman Chris Helein said.

The Estonians were participating in the NATO-sponsored "Partnership for Peace" program, designed to help nations that were part of the Soviet Union make the transition to democracy.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 10, 2000


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