The helicopter shared by Fox owned station WFLD and CBS owned station WBBM narrowly avoided a disaster after a bird strike .
Pilot Mike Sypien was flying back to Chicago from a routine maintenance check in Kenosha, Wisconsin, when a bird hit the helicopter shattering the pilot’s side windscreen and hitting Sypien in the face.
Sypien avoided nearby power lines and landed safely in a field in Pleasant Prairie, not far from Kenosha.
He suffered some abrasions, but otherwise was not seriously injured. WBBM chief photographer Paul Buscemi was in the back of the helicopter at the time, but was not hurt.
“One of my helpers is a paramedic, went right over to the pilot, and the first thing the pilot said was to check my passenger. He was really, really in control of the situation,” said Kari Nevek, who owns the farm where Sypien landed.