Pilots survive after two helicopters crash into rural Polk swamp
FORT MEADE, Fla. - A Polk County Sheriff’s Office helicopter crash-landed into a swampy field this afternoon while responding to an earlier gyrocopter crash.

The scene of both crashes is on a rural portion of Mosaic property in the Fort Meade area, not far from County Line Road East and Manley Road.

The view from SkyFOX showed the yellow gyrocopter sitting in the swampy field with a bent rotor. The PCSO helicopter was visible just a few yards away, on its side with its tail boom broken.

Emergency crews tried but apparently failed to reach the pilots via airboats. Both remain OK, according to a sheriff’s office spokesperson.

“The area where they are is extremely rural, wet, and mucky. We are trying to rescue them with assistance from several other agencies,” a PCSO update noted.

A Coast Guard helicopter was expected to arrive shortly.

Pilots rescued by Coast Guard after gyrocopter, helicopter go down in Polk County
By: Katlyn Brieskorn
Updated: Oct 3, 2019 - 8:12 PM
POLK COUNTY, Fla. - The Polk County Sheriff's Office said a helicopter and a gyrocopter went down Thursday afternoon on Mosaic property near Manley Road and County Line Road, near Bowling Green in Fort Mead.

Officials said the PCSO helicopter responded to the scene where the gyrocopter went down. The pilot of the gyro-copter was seen standing and waving at the helicopter.

Around 3 p.m., the Sheriff's Office said, PCSO helicopter also went down.

The pilot of the PCSO helicopter was able to communicate with other deputies on the scene that he was fine, but he said they were both stuck in the pond made up of soft clay, according to investigators.

Officials said a Coast Guard helicopter was able to pull the pilots out of the pond, and both men were transported to a local hospital to be checked.

The Sheriff's Office said the pilot of the PCSO helicopter is Lavon Hughes, 52, who has worked with the Polk County Sheriff's Office since July 2007. Officials said the helicopter he was flying was an OH-58.

The name of the gyro-copter pilot has not been released.

No other details were released.