New tool for helicopter
Published 10:59 pm Monday, July 9, 2007
SNOHOMISH – When flood waters rapidly rose and trapped people in their houses last fall, the Snohomish County sheriff’s helicopter couldn’t reach everyone.
The helicopter made about a dozen flights to rescue people but trees and power lines made it impossible for the helicopter crew to rescue families in two houses.
Deputies called for assistance from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.
The sheriff’s helicopter, a 1970 Bell UH-1H “Huey,” didn’t have the equipment to lift the stranded people to safety.
That changed over the winter when an electrical hoist was installed on the Huey.
The hoist will make it easier and safer for rescuers to reach people in difficult terrain.
“It’s a real safety issue. We’re in an out of there in a much shorter time. It enhances every one’s safety,” said Randy Fay, helicopter rescue team coordinator.
Adding the hoist is one of several improvements the sheriff’s office has made to its expanding helicopter program.
Crews on another sheriff’s helicopter, for example, are now out regularly patrolling the skies above Snohomish County neighborhoods, searching for suspects.
So far this year, helicopter crews have flown about 75 missions, including rescuing stranded hikers and tracking down dangerous criminals.
The sheriff’s office is turning to upgraded technology to improve the program.
Most recently, the Huey, used primarily for search and rescue missions, was outfitted with the hoist.
In some situations, such as the one last fall, the helicopter can’t safely land or the crew can’t conduct a short haul, which uses a fixed length of rope attached to the belly of the helicopter to fly people out.
“I think we’ll be able to rescue people faster and get them inside the aircraft faster,” sheriff’s Sgt. Danny Wikstrom said.
The crew used the hoist earlier this month after a climber broke her leg in the Blanca Lake area near Monte Cristo. The helicopter hovered at 5,600 feet as the woman was loaded on a stretcher and the hoist pulled her up to the aircraft.
In recent years the helicopter has a been outfitted with a water bucket to help fight wildfires. A handful of paramedics from around the county have been trained to fly with the sheriff’s helicopter crews to provide immediate medical attention to injured hikers or climbers.
The sheriff’s office also is using a second helicopter, a Hughes 500-P, to fight crime.
The smaller, quieter aircraft is up in the air more and more.
“We’re on routine patrols. You never know when we’ll be in the air,” sheriff’s chief pilot Bill Quistorf said.
The helicopter had been out of commission since November 2002, when a mechanical failure forced the pilot to make a hard landing in the front yard of a Machias house.
Damage to the 1966 aircraft was relatively minimal, but the sheriff’s office overhauled the helicopter and equipped it with state-of-the-art equipment that makes it tougher for crooks trying to run or hide from deputies on the ground.
“The biggest element of our missions is officer safety,” Quistorf said. “We’re there to tell them of any threats and where the suspect is in relation to them.”
The aircraft is equipped with a bright spotlight and an infrared camera for night flights. The system also allows the crew to take pictures and transmit them to people on the ground. A computer map program shows the helicopter crew where it’s at and where it needs to go when responding to an incident.
“It’s a huge upgrade from sitting here at night with a Thomas Guide,” said sheriff’s deputy and tactical flight officer Einar Espland.
Between the two helicopters and their different capabilities the crews expect to be up in the air more.
With only three pilots, however, the helicopters may not be available all the time.
“We want to support the deputies on the ground to catch the bad guys. We also want to continue our traditional search and rescue missions,” Wikstrom said. “We have strict safety guidelines and times when we can’t do it all.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
