A helicopter ambulance transporting a heart for transplant surgery crashed into a hospital helipad – before a medic recovered the organ and dropped it again.

The pilot was treated for minor injuries and two others on board escaped unscathed after the chopper plummeted into the helipad on top of the Keck Hospital of USC, in Los Angeles.

The chopper crash-landed shortly after 3pm on Friday but it is not yet known how the incident occurred.

Video footage shows the helicopter flipped on its side, surrounded by what appears to be a red liquid, with its tail dangling over the edge of the helipad.

A crew member miraculously recovers the heart from the aircraft, before handing it to a medical professional who quickly walks off to take it to surgery.

But as he is walking across the helipad, he accidentally trips on a metal plate on the floor, topples to the ground and drops the organ.

Medical personnel quickly rush over and scoop up the heart from the floor, before taking it down for surgery.

Hospital officials confirmed the heart arrived safely and the patient was undergoing the transplant.

They added that nobody inside or around the hospital was injured.

A spokesperson added in a statement: ‘The passengers aboard the helicopter are being treated locally. Nobody on the ground or in the hospital was injured and patient care has not been disrupted.  

‘Keck Medicine is working closely with the Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles Police Department to manage and investigate the incident.’

The LA Fire Department added in a statement: ‘The donated organ that was being transported was safely retrieved by LAFD firefighters and handed over to Keck Hospital of USC staff.’

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