Crime & Safety
Helicopter Lands in San Pablo Park for Medical Transport
Neighbors around the park, east of San Pablo Avenue between Ward and Russell streets, asked Patch to find out why a helicopter landed there Saturday night.
Saturday around 9 p.m., a medical helicopter made an unplanned landing in San Pablo Park in west Berkeley, creating a stir in the neighborhood.
A reader let us know about the landing and asked us to find out more: "Very strange. Lots of people are wondering."
Berkeley Fire Department Batallion Chief Avery Webb said a Lifelight Helicopter bound for a patient pick-up at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo made an unplanned landing in the park due to foggy conditions at the hospital.
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Webb said San Pablo Park is one area that can be used for helicopter landings if need be.
"We had emergency companies that came out just to support their operation," he said late Saturday.
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The patient was taken by ambulance from Doctors to the park, where the helicopter landed without incident. The patient then was transported by helicopter to Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto.
"It happens every now and then," said Webb. "In this case, it mostly happened just because of atmospheric conditions. The fog was coming in from the west. Their plan originally was not to land there."
