Ambulance helicopter’s dramatic landing goes awry on quiet Hungarian village road

In a dramatic incident in Nyírbátor, the rotor blades of an ambulance helicopter collided with a traffic sign as it attempted to land beside an unconscious young boy, according to a statement from the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Police Headquarters posted on police.hu on Saturday.

Hungarian ambulance helicopter’s dramatic landing

The statement explained that emergency services were scrambled on Friday to the scene in Nyírbátor, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, where medics responded within minutes to the unconscious child. Soon after, a paramedic vehicle and a rescue helicopter also rushed to the location, the Hungarian News Agency wrote.

They reported that the helicopter’s rotor blades struck a traffic sign during the landing manoeuvre. Fortunately, no one was injured in the mishap.

Meanwhile, the young boy regained consciousness, and paramedics transported him to hospital in a stable condition by ambulance. As a result, the helicopter was no longer needed for the transfer to hospital, the statement noted.

We wrote before that the Hungarian government believes the ambulance fleet in Hungary surpasses the Austrian vehicles. Furthermore, while Hungary struggles with the labour shortage of paramedics, the government decided to deploy a team in Chad, Central Africa.

Investigation ongoing

Police are now investigating the circumstances of the accident through a criminal procedure, involving relevant authorities such as the Transport Safety Organisation and the Air Traffic Supervisory Authority Main Department of the Ministry of Construction and Transport.