Heavy early-morning fog forced a helicopter pilot to make an emergency landing at a Broward County strip mall Wednesday morning.

Pilot Paul Appleton, a firefighter from Ohio, said he was flying from Tamiami Airport in Southwest Miami-Dade to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport when the fog made it impossible for him to see.

"The fog got me just enveloped in." Appleton told Local 10's Sasha Andrade. "It was to the point that it was here or nothing and I picked here."

Appleton safely landed his helicopter near the Stein Mart on Sterling Road. The aircraft remained there until about 9 a.m. when it was deemed safe for him to take off again.

Appleton told Local 10 it's not the first time he's had a close call in the sky. Two years ago, a turkey vulture flew through his windshield as he was flying to the Port of Miami.