US Black Hawk helicopter makes emergency landing in Austria

By

The Associated Press

An Arizona Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter with 2-285th Assault Helicopter Battalion in Phoenix soars over a low layer of clouds during a flight to the Western Army Aviation Training site in Marana, Ariz., March 4, 2015. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Brian A. Barbour)

VIENNA — Austrian defense officials say a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter with seven people on board had to make an emergency landing west of Vienna after it flew too low during a storm and scraped against tree branches.

Austrian Col. Michael Bauer says the chopper was to be repaired Friday by U.S. technicians, a day after landing in a field. Nobody was injured.

Bauer says the Blackhawk was returning to Germany from NATO exercises in Hungary when the crew asked Austrian authorities for permission to land after the branches damaged the cockpit and the tail.