The last thing someone expects when driving down Interstate 12 is to see a helicopter land on the highway.

But Sunday afternoon, a lot of motorists were witness to a helicopter making a forced landing in the westbound lane of I-12 between the Airport Road and U.S. Highway 11 exits.

Louisiana State Police Troop L spokesman, Trooper Louis Calato said troopers got a call about an aircraft crash on the highway at 4:35 p.m. When troopers got there, they found a red 2006 Robinson R-44 helicopter sitting on the shoulder of the road next to a 1999 Chevrolet van. Calato said the helicopter’s pilot, Karl Beier, 62, of Lacombe was flying back to the Slidell Municipal Airport when he experienced mechanical problems. Beier told the troopers he decided to make a forced landing on the highway. However, as he came down, he hit the roof of the van driven by Leonardo Salvaggio, 55, also of Lacombe.

“It was just a glancing blow, and there was no real damage,” Calato said.

The collision caused the helicopter to hit the ground and slide off to the side of the road.

However, no one was injured in the incident, Calato said.

One witness, Laurie Parfait who was traveling from Covington with her family saw the helicopter hovering as they left Covington and by the time they got to the Airport Road exit, saw the aircraft come down on the highway.

“It was pretty exciting, and it was really cool,” Parfait said.

The crash landing did back up traffic on I-12 for several hours, Calato said. The helicopter was loaded onto a wrecker and taken back to the Slidell airport, he said.

State police notified the Federal Aviation Administration and they will continue the investigation into why the helicopter made the forced landing.