Don Clarke cleans the windshield of one of the Guardian Air helicopters in a hangar at Pulliam Airport Wednesday. Clarke is a pilot who works for Air Methods. Guardian Air has six helicopters serving northern Arizona as well as one fixed-wing aircraft.
(Jake Bacon/Arizona Daily Sun)
Soon after two shots rang out in Bushmaster Park two weeks ago, nearby residents listened to the sound of helicopter blades slicing through Flagstaff skies and watched Arizona Department of Public Safety pilots circle in search of their prey.
The agency was helping Flagstaff police track down several men involved in a daytime fight that included gunplay and left three with stab wounds near a playground.
One Thomas Elementary School teacher told a meeting of concerned Greenlaw residents that she and her students were comforted by the helicopter's audible presence during the ensuing school lockdown. It let the class know someone was looking out for them.
But years of state budget cuts to DPS staffing have left the Flagstaff-based Ranger helicopter operational only 49 percent of the time.
"As a result, some calls have literally gone unanswered," said DPS Aviation Administrator Terry Miyauchi. "It does have an impact (on public safety), but it's tough to measure."
NEW MISSION FOR GUARDIAN
In the Flagstaff region, Guardian Air, a division of the Flagstaff Medical Center, has stepped up to fill DPS' role in some search and rescue situations.
It was Guardian that responded when a Norwegian BASE jumper's parachute did not deploy properly and he plummeted to the bottom of the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers -- a drop of about 1,000 feet. The helicopter landed about 500 feet below the man and the pilots, together with a Sheriff's deputy, hiked to check on the deceased man.
Until recently, Guardian would not have been allowed to land in such an area.
The nonprofit helicopter group also flew rescuers to the bottom of Meteor Crater several weeks ago when a man jumped a fence and leapt into a 100-foot mineshaft. The Flagstaff DPS helicopter was out of service at the time and Kingman was unable to fly to the area because of bad weather blocking its path.
For the past several years, Guardian Air Director Wade Patten says his agency has been flying 12 to 15 flights annually in support of Coconino County Search and Rescue.
"There was concern over budget issues with the Department of Public Safety and we started to research how we could help," Patten said.
Guardian had to get approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to be allowed to land at more than its usual hospitals and designated landing areas, Patten said.
FMC has been covering the price of the flights out of its community service budget.
"We've done this as a public service, because we have to show we give back to the community," Patten said.
ONLY TWO AVAILABLE STATEWIDE
DPS has helicopters in Flagstaff, Kingman, Tucson and Phoenix, but only two of those aircraft are available statewide -- one in the north and one in the south -- at any given point.
"We can't adequately cover it with two," said Miyauchi, who oversees the aviation division. "If we lose any more staff, we wouldn't be able to cover the whole state."
To handle the budget cuts, their goal is to have the Flagstaff helicopter available to respond to the western part of the state whenever Kingman is down, and vice versa.
It takes an hour to fly from Flagstaff to Kingman.
The impact to public safety is amplified in a rural part of the state like Coconino County, where no other law enforcement agency provides air support.
DPS helps local agencies, like the Flagstaff Police Department and the Coconino County Sheriff's Office, on a regular basis and does not ask for reimbursement. Specifically, Miyauchi said aviation is a proven public safety asset during high speed pursuits.
The Kingman helicopter was unavailable to help police with pursuit during a car chase in that city on Monday. Despite a lengthy pursuit, the Flagstaff helicopter couldn't get to Kingman before the car crashed, injuring the suspect and two others.
A lift on the hiring freeze last summer has allowed the Aviation Bureau to hire three new helicopter pilots who are currently being trained. One of those pilots is expected to join the Flagstaff crew in the coming months and two others are slated for Kingman.
The additional pilot will make the Flagstaff helicopter available 75 percent of the time. It could be some time before the office is fully staffed again.
COPTERS CRITICAL IN SEARCHES
One of Ranger's critical roles is aiding Coconino County Search and Rescue looking for the lost or injured and pulling them out of precarious terrain.
"Coconino County and the Flagstaff area, with the mountainous terrain, the extreme weather and adventurous people -- this is one of the busiest areas for use of the helicopter," Miyauchi said.
DPS will assist Search and Rescue on 40 to 60 searches each year, which means most searches are aided by air support.
"We have a great relationship with DPS Aviation and DPS in general," said Search and Rescue Coordinator Sgt. Aaron Dick. "They are a critical component of what we do."
Dick said that the department has done a good job of making sure an aircraft is almost always available, but the staffing issues have meant it can often take longer.
Other than weather preventing the Kingman helicopter from reaching Flagstaff, DPS has been available almost every time it's been called to aid Search and Rescue.
Story and Photo: http://azdailysun.com
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