An RAF Benson-based helicopter pilot and two crew members have escaped without serious injury after crash-landing in a field.
Police said the crewmen were able to walk away unharmed after the Puma helicopter, pictured, came down close to the A303, in Andover, Hampshire, yesterday afternoon.
A Hampshire Police spokesman said: “Police were called after receiving reports that a helicopter had crash-landed.
“On arrival, officers found a military Puma helicopter on a training exercise from Benson had made a crash-landing. The pilot and two crew members onboard were unharmed and were able to walk away from the crash scene.
He said the scene was cordoned off to allow investigators to gather evidence.
An RAF spokesman said the incident took place during a routine training sortie.
Pumas from RAF Benson have been involved in a series of crashes in recent years.
In 2007, a Puma crashed in North Yorkshire killing three people. The same year, two Pumas crashed in Iraq, killing two military personnel and seriously injuring another.
In 2004, a helicopter pilot from Benson, died when a Puma crashed in Iraq, and in 2003, four crew escaped injury when a Puma crashed at Drayton, near Abingdon.
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