When a US Coast Guard rescue helicopter went on a test flight to practice hovering at San Francisco International Airport Monday afternoon, the hovering part didn't go so well — after the aircraft malfunctioned, the flight ended up crashing onto the tarmac.

According to Coast Guard officials, it all started at around 2:45 yesterday afternoon. That's when the agency's MH-65 Dolphin returned to the Coast Guard's SF Air Station after a routine "hovering training exercise."

They were hovering about ten feet from the ground when, Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Bill Colclough tells KTVU, the flight's two pilots "attempted to land, a malfunction occurred and the aircraft landed on its side."

"Fortunately, both crew members were able to exit the aircraft," he said. Both received only minor injuries, and should be fine.

It's still unclear if the chopper tilted to the side, causing the crash landing, or if it was the hard landing that tipped the helicopter over. According to KTVU, the malfunctioning craft is among the newest in the Coast Guard's fleet. However, it's unlikely the multi-million dollar craft will be back in the air anytime soon — when it hit the ground, the helicopter's rotor blades were sheared off by the impact.

The Coast Guard is sending a team to SFO to investigate the cause of the hard landing, but Colclough remains unflappable in the face of the crash.

"Even a training as routine as this," he says, "you can experience an incident."

"You can't take anything for granted."