Helicopter makes emergency in beach parking lot

A helicopter made an emergency landing in the parking lot of Huntington State Beach on Monday morning after the pilot noticed smoke coming out of its electrical equipment.

No one was hurt in the landing, authorities said.

The Huntington Beach Fire Department responded to the emergency landing at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street after receiving a call from John Wayne Airport about it, said Deputy Fire Marshal Bob Culhane.

Culhane originally said there was only the pilot in the helicopter but later said there were two people on board.

The pilot landed the Robinson R44 Clipper safely across the street from the AES power plant at about 9:39 a.m., Culhane said.

The helicopter is owned by a Las Vegas-based company.

The smoke stopped once the helicopter was on the ground. It will be transferred to an aircraft mechanic shop to assess the cause of the smoke.

—Mona Shadia

Twitter: @MonaShadia