Helicopter pilot charged after landing on top of protected birds on Egmont Key: FWC
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A helicopter pilot is in hot water after video shows him landing on Egmont Key, right on top of hundreds of protected shorebirds.
Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) is charging the pilot, Ernesto Cordero, with a misdemeanor for violating the state's threatened species law, after the flight landed May 12 at around 3 p.m. in a protected species area.
The helicopter captain told FWC he was smelling leaking fuel, and it was better than risking a crash.
Video shows Cordero landing his company helicopter on the beach at Egmont Key, scattering hundreds of black skimmers and sandwich terns.
FWC investigators wrote that it was a closed shorebird nesting site, and that a woman got out of the helicopter and took pictures before taking off. Cordero claimed he was able to check the fuel leak without getting out of the helicopter.
FWC said Cordero apologized, but was given a misdemeanor charge for harming the eggs of a protected species.
READ: 'Not on my watch:' Hubbard's Marina employee saves drowning man's life off Shell Key
"Our seabirds and shorebirds have an intrinsic value, and, a right to exist here on the beach," said Audrey DeRose-Wilson of Audubon Florida. "But if we want to talk about, like the value they give to us, they are indicators of a healthy, functioning ecosystem, which is something that benefits all of us."
One surveyor of the area said it was likely there are 50,000 pairs of birds nesting on Egmont key.
FWC charged Cordero not only with harassing the nesting spots, but also with citations for landing an aircraft in a state park and for entering a closed area.
He told us that he uses the helicopter for business and that the only way to check for the fuel leak was to land at that moment.
He is due back in court on July 1 to answer for the violation and citations.
SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter
WATCH FOX 13 NEWS