No one was hurt Monday morning when a traffic helicopter made an impromptu landing in a College of DuPage parking lot.

At about 7 a.m. the helicopter, which was leased by Metro Traffic, touched down for almost four hours on the western end of Lot A, on the western end of the Glen Ellyn campus. The pilot made a “precautionary landing” because of safety concerns, said Carol Williams, director of operations for Chicago for Westwood One radio network, which owns Metro Traffic.

Metro Traffic, which was formerly Shadow Traffic, had leased the helicopter from St. Louis-based Helicopters Inc.

The pilot decided to land due to concerns about a flight gauge on the instrument panel that fluctuated, said Nicholas Christakos, chief pilot for Helicopters Inc. A mechanic later checked the aircraft and found nothing wrong, he said.

Both Williams and Christakos stressed that the landing was not forced or an emergency.

“There’s a big difference between emergency and precautionary,” Williams said. “There weren’t any emergency lights. There wasn’t a loss of power. There was a surge. Nothing unusual, something that didn’t sit right with (the pilot).”

The helicopter took off at about 10:45 a.m.

During the interim, COD public safety officials kept students and faculty away from the parking lot, said COD spokesman Bill Troller.

“It was so early in the morning it did not disrupt any classes,” Troller said.

The helicopter touched down about the time Troller was arriving to work, and he said he was shocked to see it in the lot with its rotors still spinning.

“Usually it’s SUVs and sedans. Maybe the occasional motorcycle,” he said with a laugh. “No one I know takes (a helicopter) to work.”