Night flyers

Since 1975, Dare County has operated Dare MedFlight, one of only three county-owned aeromedical operations in the nation, to get patients who have life-threatening or other serious medical conditions that exceed local hospital capabilities or resources to a facility that can take care of them.

Piloting the Dare County MedFlight helicopter on around 300 flights a year is more than a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled job. It is one that requires attention to detail. Lots of detail.

Especially when you consider that emergency transport calls in the middle of the night do not make the assignment any easier.

There’s a lot more to it than cranking up the rotors of the state-of-the-art Airbus H-145 twin-engine helicopter for lift-off. A typical flight crew of pilot and two EMS paramedic technicians don’t just jump in and fly away, disappearing into the night.

Any flights scheduled or unscheduled actually start back at the beginning of a shift.

Among the first things on the list a pilot checks is the aircraft log book to review aircraft flight times, landings and engine cycles. If there was no flight the previous shift, all those numbers are zeroed out for the day and carried over to the next page. Next, a pilot makes a weather check at an aviation center and then looks at another program that tracks other aircraft in the area, followed by a look at the calendar to see if there are any special events or activities that need to be noted. All in order to do a risk assessment.

According to chief pilot Kurt Willenbacher, pilots operate under strict FAA guidelines on what weather conditions and the number of hours pilots can work.

“If a weather system does come in, we don’t shut down,” explained Willenbacher, “they’ll just go out of service. If it looks like a prolonged weather event, the med technicians can be reassigned to a ground truck. Pilots have to be skids down at 14 hours. If we are on a flight and reach our limit, we have to land somewhere.”

So far, Willenbacher said he and the four Dare County line pilots have not had to do that.

“If we get a call we know we cannot complete, we’ll decline it,” he added.

Next is a check of the exterior and interior of the aircraft. Pilots check out the entire helicopter and all the equipment necessary to fly it. Every detail and every piece of equipment must be checked, including making sure night vision goggles are in good order.

By the time the aircraft check is done, the crew arrives for a group briefing. The briefing is also to make sure everybody is healthy, to deal with any questions somebody might have, review weather conditions for the day and review any other events that might take place for the day. While most PR events and other gatherings are daytime occurrences, there might be some at night.

If everything checks out, the pilot will put in a flight request. Then it’s time to sit back and wait.

During down times when no calls take place, there are other assignments. Continuing education is one requirement, so idle time can go toward studying for classes. Additional equipment checks are a good use of time. Sometimes there might even be a chance to lay down and get some rest.

When an emergency call does come, no matter the hour, it’s quick-paced action to get into the air.

First is a recheck of weather conditions followed by a walk around look at the helicopter.

Next is to pull the aircraft out to the landing pad on a trail so the wheels need to be chalked and the tow vehicle unhooked and parked back inside the hanger and the hanger door shut.

There is another walk around the helicopter to make sure everything is safe and no debris close by. Next is a check to make sure night vision goggles and other equipment are in good order.

If all checks out, the crew loads up with one person outside as a fire watch. A pilot will fire up the engines and go through a preflight challenge and response checklist to make sure all the doors are closed, lights are green, oxygen is on and there are no warnings, then challenge everyone to make sure the seat belts are on and everyone in place.

And if everything is good, then the rest of the crew will get in and the pilot makes a call to dispatch.

“We tell dispatchers who is on board, where we’re going, and our ETA to get there,” advised Willenbacher. “It’s all very detailed, but when we are done, we take off. The big thing for us is safety, safety, safety. It’s a very controlled environment.”

Norfolk and Greenville are the primary flight locations; with a three-hour range, there have been some trips as far as Richmond and Duke.

With an average speed of 150 mph, Norfolk is about 35 minutes away and Greenville, 45 minutes.

As for the flight itself, pilot Taylor Hurd says flying with night vision goggles is a little like looking through toilet paper tubes.

“You don’t have the same field of view with night vision goggles that you would during the day,” explains Hurd. “So you have to make sure you’re scanning a lot because everything is monochrome. You also don’t see things traveling past you off to the side unless you’re looking at it because of the limited field of view.”

Taylor said with everything being about the same color, it’s hard to tell how far away anything is because you don’t have the depth perception that you would during the day without goggles.

“So it’s a little harder flying at night,” Hurd continues. “If you can do something at night you can do it during the day, but being proficient during the daytime doesn’t necessarily translate to being proficient at night. So when we practice, we generally try to do it under the more difficult mode of flight.”

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