They survived an in-flight collision monday night near Canistota and tonight they're sharing their story with Action News.

An Avera Careflight helicopter hit a duck Monday night just after 6, forcing an emergency landing in a farm field.

This Avera Careflight helicopter is brand new: beginning it's service last April.
Monday night, it's crew was forced to make an unscheduled landing after hitting something in flight.

"I was able to see the bird just prior to impact." Pilot Craig Hilzendager saw what turned out to be a duck as it slammed into the helicopter cockpit window, shattered it...then striking on board EMT Terry Willis. "An immediate pain in my left knee then felt something run into my left shoulder..."

Willis was hurt and Hilzendager didn't know what other damage the helicopter might have received.
Both used their night vision goggles to find a safe area to land.

"You're able to see the rows of corn, the power lines, the poles, the standing water obviously..."

"We were able to pick out a good safe place to land and we set it down."

The plexiglass on the helicopter has quite a curve to it and that's by design so that if a bird were to hit this it would essentially bounce off because of the curvature. The reason the plexiglass shattered in this helicopter is because the duck hit right here, where the plexiglass is flatter and in theory, weaker."

The Avera Careflight crew has a lot of experience but this in flight hit is troubling and rattled some nerves.

"You don't expect to run into things up there..."

Click on the video link to see Brian Allen and Katie Taube's interview with pilot Craig Hilzendager.

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