Gwinnett County Police helicopter crashes at Briscoe Field

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - A Gwinnett County Police helicopter crashed Friday morning at Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, while returning to the airport from a call.

Police described the two officers who were aboard the "Air 1" chopper as conscious, alert and talking. They were taken to the Gwinnett County Medical Center. The officers' injuries are non-life threatening.

Airport Employee David Thompson and others ran to help two Gwinnett police officers just seconds after the accident.

"One of the police officers had already removed himself from the helicopter and was on the grass on his back. The other one was still strapped in," Mr. Thompson of ATP flight school recalled.

Gwinnett Police say that the second officer was trapped and rescue workers use extraction equipment to remove him.

" He said he couldn't feel his legs and had a lot of lower back pain," Thompson said.

The Gwinnett County Fire Department also helped to extricate an officer trapped inside the wreckage.

The crash occurred Friday morning about 200 yards from the hangar as the pilots were returning from a call related to a wanted person who had been located, according to police. That wanted person was later arrested, police said.

The cause of the crash is unknown, but police say the weather conditions were windy and a storm was approaching at the time the helicopter went down.

The FAA will determine the cause of the crash.