At about 14:28 EST, a Schweizer 269C helicopter was destroyed during a forced landing, killing the commercial pilot/police officer and seriously injuring the aerial observer. The helicopter was operated by the Baltimore Police Department Helicopter Unit and was performing an official police mission at the time of the accident. Witnesses said the rotor was spinning slowly as the helicopter descended and reported hearing a loud pop and seeing smoke trailing from the helicopter. A 2-inch hole was found on the bottom of the engine casing near the number 2 cylinder and a 4-inch hole was found on the top of the casing for the same cylinder. The engine, a HIO-360-D1A, manufactured by Textron Lycoming on February 13, 1998, had accumulated about 45 hours of flight time since new.
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