Helicopters play unique roles, and one of their most valuable is in medical evacuation. But on Oct. 8, 2008, the Fairfield, Conn., Police Department added search-and-rescue functions to its helicopter mission. Fairfield uses a 1968 Bell UH-IH (“Huey”)—dubbed “Eagle One”—based at nearby Stratford, Connecticut’s Sikorsky Memorial Airport. The Huey is flown by volunteers, and the costs of operating it are covered by the non-profit Nelson D’Ancona Foundation.

Word came down that a 62-year-old disabled veteran and former hunter had been missing for two-and-a-half days. For that entire time, the victim—if he was alive—would have been enduring cold nights, and had no food or water. Officials had an idea that he might be in a certain area near his Coventry, Conn., home; investigators found out that he liked to look for pheasants in the fall, and that they frequented specific locales.

Initially, Connecticut State Police searched for the man using low-flying airplanes. The State Environmental Protection Agency spent two days on all-terrain vehicles in the search. Neither had any luck in the heavily wooded countryside and vast farm fields. Finally, Coventry officials called Fairfield and asked for Eagle One to help out. Four crewmembers—Charlie Brady, pilot David Faile, Robert Hettrick, and Chris McNeill—scrambled the helicopter and set out from Sikorsky for Coventry. After landing at a Coventry school athletic field, Eagle One picked up Coventry police sergeant Tony Ochtera to help in the search.

“The helicopter was the only way the car could be located by air…”

A gridded search pattern was established and Eagle One flew it for an hour—and then spotted the missing man’s car. It was under trees at the edge of a field. The helicopter was the only way the car could be located by air, according to Faile. The trees still had leaves on them, so airplanes looking down couldn’t see it. But a helicopter hovering over the field had a clear view all around.

Eagle One landed in a harvested field and the volunteers went to check out the car. Inside, they found the missing man—on the floor of the back seat, conscious, but unable to move. Because the area was so remote that no other vehicle could reach the man, the Eagle One crew made an on-the-spot decision to transfer him immediately to a hospital. The crew made a stretcher out of blankets, carried the victim to the chopper, put him on the floor, lifted off, and flew to the Windham, Conn., hospital. There he was admitted to the emergency room, and subsequently made a recovery. As for Eagle One, it returned to Sikorsky.

“That’s a great feeling,” said Faile. “It’s a thrill.” According to the Eagle One online newsletter, Faile says that even if the Eagle One crew is called to the hangar only to have a mission aborted, that’s OK by him. “We’d rather be here and be assembled and ready to go,” he said. That’s yet another affirmation of the value and spirit behind general aviation serving America. —By Thomas A. Horne