Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Solo Hiking in the Grand Canyon Combined with Inexperience Can Lead to Tragedy
azdailysun.com Top Stories
Applying for a GCNP back country permit may have prevented this boys demise.
Applying for a GCNP back country permit may have prevented this boys demise.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Grand Canyon Heli Crew Recieves Awards
Photo from video by Brandon Torres, NPS.
This is the image everyone remembers: Helitack crew members from Grand Canyon National Park wait to receive two members of a stranded rafting party, whom a helicopter is lowering to shore.
GRAND CANYON, Ariz. – A short-haul rescue of 16 stranded boaters on August 17, 2008 has garnered Grand Canyon National Park’s helitack and search-and-rescue crews the Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service. Crews accepted their award on Feb. 23, at the Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo Awards Banquet, “Salute to Excellence.”
In August of last year, Havasu Canyon, a popular side canyon of the Grand Canyon, flash flooded as a result of heavy, localized, monsoon rains. The floodwaters necessitated the evacuation of almost 400 people and washed the boats of a private rafting party that had gone ashore downstream. Havasu Canyon, which includes the Village of Supai, is located on the Havasupai Reservation, approximately 75 air miles west of Grand Canyon Village.
To rescue the rafting party, the National Park Service deployed a helitack search-and-rescue team consisting of a Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters pilot, five members of Grand Canyon National Park’s helitack crew and a park ranger/paramedic. The rescue team found the group stranded on a ledge more than 30 feet above the floodwaters at the confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River. The team used a short-haul rescue technique, suspending group members beneath the helicopter. Moving members two at a time, they transported the group from the ledge to the shore of the Colorado River. Once on shore group members boarded a helicopter that flew them to Hualapai Hilltop. From there, a bus transported them to a Red Cross Shelter in Peach Springs, Ariz.
Each year, Sikorsky Aircraft sponsors the Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service in honor of its founder. It presents the award to those who best demonstrate the value of civil rotorcraft to society by saving lives, protecting property, and aiding those in distress. According to the awards program, the evacuation required “precision flying under difficult conditions due to the tight canyon and the need to hover for prolonged periods in close proximity to the canyon wall.” According to Jay Lusher, the park’s helicopter program manager, having to work and land next to rushing water increased the challenges because water movement can prove disorienting to pilot and crew.
Sikorsky Aircraft honored seven individuals for their efforts during the rescue:
Jay Lusher, helicopter program manager
John Yurcik, helitack squad leader
Sean Naylor, seasonal helitack crew member
Nate Becker, seasonal helitack/paramedic
Ali Ulwelling, seasonal helitack
Brandon Torres, ranger/paramedic
Bryce Barnett, helicopter pilot, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters
“It just says Grand Canyon Helitack on the award,” Lusher said. “But to us it includes our vendor (Papillon), …all the people who work for them and all the people who work for the National Park Service. …[W]e see ourselves as one giant crew that works together to accomplish all the missions we have.”
Other nominees Sikorsky Aircraft considered for the 2009 award included the Orange County Fire Authority Air Operations, STARS Aviation Canada Inc. and the Manaus Squadron of the Brazilian Air Force.
Previous winners of the award include aircraft involved in Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Katrina air operations, the Government Flying Service of Hong Kong, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Turkish Armed Forces/Red Star Helicopter Association, the South African Air Force Rescue Crew and Soviet Union aircrews involved in relief efforts following the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident.
This is the most prestigious award received in the 36-plus-year history of Grand Canyon National Park’s aviation program, according to Michael Ebersole, interagency unit aviation officer Congratulations Grand Canyon helitack and search-and-rescue crews and Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters on a job extraordinarily well done.
To see the video footage of the rescue, go to www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/short-haul.htm. To learn more about the park’s helicopter program, contact Lusher at (928) 638-7921; and to learn more about the park’s search-and-rescue program, contact Ken Phillips at (928) 638-7792.
In August of last year, Havasu Canyon, a popular side canyon of the Grand Canyon, flash flooded as a result of heavy, localized, monsoon rains. The floodwaters necessitated the evacuation of almost 400 people and washed the boats of a private rafting party that had gone ashore downstream. Havasu Canyon, which includes the Village of Supai, is located on the Havasupai Reservation, approximately 75 air miles west of Grand Canyon Village.
To rescue the rafting party, the National Park Service deployed a helitack search-and-rescue team consisting of a Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters pilot, five members of Grand Canyon National Park’s helitack crew and a park ranger/paramedic. The rescue team found the group stranded on a ledge more than 30 feet above the floodwaters at the confluence of Havasu Creek and the Colorado River. The team used a short-haul rescue technique, suspending group members beneath the helicopter. Moving members two at a time, they transported the group from the ledge to the shore of the Colorado River. Once on shore group members boarded a helicopter that flew them to Hualapai Hilltop. From there, a bus transported them to a Red Cross Shelter in Peach Springs, Ariz.
Each year, Sikorsky Aircraft sponsors the Igor I. Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service in honor of its founder. It presents the award to those who best demonstrate the value of civil rotorcraft to society by saving lives, protecting property, and aiding those in distress. According to the awards program, the evacuation required “precision flying under difficult conditions due to the tight canyon and the need to hover for prolonged periods in close proximity to the canyon wall.” According to Jay Lusher, the park’s helicopter program manager, having to work and land next to rushing water increased the challenges because water movement can prove disorienting to pilot and crew.
Sikorsky Aircraft honored seven individuals for their efforts during the rescue:
Jay Lusher, helicopter program manager
John Yurcik, helitack squad leader
Sean Naylor, seasonal helitack crew member
Nate Becker, seasonal helitack/paramedic
Ali Ulwelling, seasonal helitack
Brandon Torres, ranger/paramedic
Bryce Barnett, helicopter pilot, Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters
“It just says Grand Canyon Helitack on the award,” Lusher said. “But to us it includes our vendor (Papillon), …all the people who work for them and all the people who work for the National Park Service. …[W]e see ourselves as one giant crew that works together to accomplish all the missions we have.”
Other nominees Sikorsky Aircraft considered for the 2009 award included the Orange County Fire Authority Air Operations, STARS Aviation Canada Inc. and the Manaus Squadron of the Brazilian Air Force.
Previous winners of the award include aircraft involved in Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Katrina air operations, the Government Flying Service of Hong Kong, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Turkish Armed Forces/Red Star Helicopter Association, the South African Air Force Rescue Crew and Soviet Union aircrews involved in relief efforts following the Chernobyl nuclear power station accident.
This is the most prestigious award received in the 36-plus-year history of Grand Canyon National Park’s aviation program, according to Michael Ebersole, interagency unit aviation officer Congratulations Grand Canyon helitack and search-and-rescue crews and Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters on a job extraordinarily well done.
To see the video footage of the rescue, go to www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/short-haul.htm. To learn more about the park’s helicopter program, contact Lusher at (928) 638-7921; and to learn more about the park’s search-and-rescue program, contact Ken Phillips at (928) 638-7792.
Article by Shannan Marcak, public affairs specialist, Grand Canyon National Park
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Family Fun
A family of three recently posted their experience of the 1-day rafting trip, on their Blog about their vacation to the Grand Canyon. Check out http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Hualapai-Reservation/blog-413736.html
Grand Canyon One-day Raft Trip
You can do a section of the Grand Canyon in one-day. Watch this video for a complete overview of a fun and full day!
Rafting Grand Canyon from Bessie Hyde on Vimeo.
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