A U.S. Air Force helicopter conducted an emergency landing in Northwest Washington, D.C., late Monday night after its crew heard vibrations while in flight.
The aircrew of a UH-1N helicopter assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron, located at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, made the precautionary landing after noting “vibrating mechanical sounds,” an Air Force spokesperson confirmed to Military Times.
A Joint Base Andrews spokesperson told Military Times that the crew was conducting a routine training flight.
The helicopter landed near the Georgetown Reservoir, owned and operated by the Washington Aqueduct, on Monday at approximately 9:26 p.m. local time.
“Joint Base Andrews takes the safety of the aircrew and our surrounding community seriously,” a Tuesday statement from the base reads.
The four crew members returned safely to the Maryland base, and there was no damage to the aircraft or property damage after the landing, the release reads.
The helicopter landed on Washington Aqueduct’s property near Foxhall Road NW, about a mile away from the German Embassy.
Washington Aqueduct did not immediately return a request for comment.
Pictures of the helicopter after its landing and the crews that responded have circulated social media, including from a D.C. freelance photographer Andrew Leyden.
A maintenance crew has been assessing the aircraft since Tuesday morning to investigate the cause of the vibrations heard by the helicopter unit.
Andrews and the Air Force declined to comment on when the aircraft can be moved from its landing spot.
The Bell UH-1N “Huey” aircraft, which began service in 1970, are light-lift utility helicopters used in various missions, such as disaster relief response, medical evacuation and security and surveillance of off-base nuclear weapons convoys.
As the Air Force moved to modernize its rotary-wing capabilities, it began officially retiring the aging aircraft in 2025 when the Hueys left bases it was stationed at, like Yokota Air Base.
Years prior in 2018, the service announced that existing UH-1N locations would receive replacement aircraft sometime between 2020 and 2032.
Andrews, one of the bases with the aging aircraft, was selected in 2022 to receive 25 MH-139 Grey Wolves to replace the base’s 21 UH-1Ns, but the plans were later scrapped.
Instead, the Air Force opted to reallocate some of its budget to modify 26 HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters in fiscal year 2026.
Earlier this month, the UH-1Ns from Andrews participated in the flyovers in D.C. over the National Mall for America 250 celebrations.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
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