Phoenix Police And Fire Departments Partner Up On New Helicopters
Guns and hoses. Two city agencies work together to enhance public safety and serve the 5th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
During the 14 years I did search and rescue work for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (M.C.S.O.) I had the opportunity to train and work with the City of Phoenix Fire and Police Departments many times. On every occasion I found their members to be knowledgeable, professional and generally a lot of fun to be around. These are good guys that work hard to be good at what they do. So, when Battalion Chief Tom Pendley asked me to help with a training video project I just asked when and where.
Phoenix PD embraced the concept of airborne law enforcement in the early 70's and has committed significant resources since to make the unit more than just an effective platform for observing and directing traffic. When I was coming up in the early 90s they had developed an impressive pilot training program and put together one of the largest fleets of McDonnell Douglas 520N NOTAR helicopters in the country. More recently, under the leadership of Chief Pilot Phil Telford, Phoenix has successfully transitioned from the MDs because of performance limitations and maintenance issues to Eurocopter and Agusta products. Now, since neither entity could justify the expense separately, the fire and police departments participate in an innovative partnership to operate a twin engine, multipurpose helicopter for special operations type incidents. They chose the Agusta A109E aka the A109 Power.
The Agusta A109E is a twin engined, 8 passenger aircraft with retractable gear. PPD Air Support specs called for extraordinary performance capabilities considering the power robbing effects of Phoenician summers and the specialized demands of joint Fire/Police department use. They got a lot of bang for the buck.
Regular readers may remember the name Tom Pendley. I have known him for a long time and written about him before. Tom was Commander of M.C.S.O. Mountain Rescue when I joined the Team in 1990. We have been on many missions together, done Rainier and the upper Salt River together, taught rope rescue courses and ski patrolled together and remained good friends even though life has taken us in different directions. Tom is smart and talented with a long list of accomplishments including, flight medic, rotor wing pilot, and author of a best selling Technical Rescue Field Operations Guide for firefighters. On this particular day Chief Pendley was working on a company training video to be used on a very slick site that he created for the department.
The specific topic of this segment was using the hoist on the A109 with the Bauman Bag Helicopter Transport device to evacuate patients from remote areas. Tom needed a second cameraman for the video shoot but also wanted to draw on my experience with the Bauman Bag. I have used it many times in actual rescues and did in fact rep the product for Rainy Day Equipment, the manufacturer. It is a fantastic piece of gear responsible for saving many lives and will work well for Phoenix in this application. The Bauman Bag is now available through CMC Rescue.
Not every mission requires the speed and muscle of the A109 so they have several single engine A119s configured with aft mounted spots and FLIR units for more traditional urban patrol and support duties.
Learning their lesson from the all MD days where critical parts shortages could all but cripple readiness, Phoenix also employs the reliable and economical Eurocopter AS350B3. Day in and day out, Phoenix has a bird in the air or one on the pad that is ready to go. You can count on it.
Technical Rescue Specialist Captain Mark Delima steps out of "Firebird 10" after being canceled in route to a rescue mission. Dual use takes coordination and cooperation but Phoenix pulls it off and makes it work.
If I were going to design the best job in the fire service the description would sound a lot like Car 957. Phoenix has a comprehensive and well respected Technical Rescue Training (TRT) program to address local needs as well as the national disaster response capability that goes with being a FEMA US&R Team. The tip of that spear in the Phoenix system on every shift is a specially trained TRT Captain, designated Car 957, responsible for responding to structural collapse, water rescue, mountain rescue and other special calls. Car 957 also serves as the airborne SAR Tech, Crew Chief and Hoist Operator on the A109.
The Car 957 Captain on duty this day was Mark Delima. Yea, it is good duty with a very high cool factor but these guys have a full operational dance card and a lot to stay on top of. I think it is the most demanding job in the department and my hat goes off to them. Oops, is my TRT biased showing?
Peoria Battalion Chief Tom Pendley interviews Phoenix PD Chief Pilot Phil Telford for an on-line company training video on the use of the Bauman Bag Helicopter Patient Transport device and hoist operations.
I love working with Pendley but I was lusting to get close to the new helos. I don't have much experience in or around anything made by Agusta and I couldn't wait to check them out. They are impressive birds and by all accounts Phoenix is happy with them. I was particularly interested to know what it was like to operate out of a ship that didn't have skids for mountain rescue and swift water incidents. The Hueys, 500s, 206L3s, 407s, OH-58s, Twin Stars and AStars that I have worked out of all had skids but then they didn't have the hoist capability that Firebird 10 offers. The Sheriff's Office had a small Breeze-Eastern hoist for our Bell 407 but we didn't use it much which was OK with me. I am a rope guy. I know rope and I know what to expect from it in different situations. I don't have the same comfort level with wire cable.
My thanks goes out to the Crew. They were patient and gracious with all my questions. We got through the static part of the filming and then moved out to the North training area to do the practical part. The sexy part. The fun part. I dig helicopters. Can you tell?
On the pad. Captain Delima does a thorough brief and dry run with evolution participants before they do it it live. This is where written SOG meets practical application and any discrepancies between the two gets resolved. To tie it altogether, they will do a proper debrief when they finish.
Sophisticated machines, courageous men, and disciplined professionalism come together to provide state of the art capability for the unwitting masses of The Valley Of The Sun. I enjoyed spending some time with this outfit, again. It was a kick and the distinctive smell of jet exhaust stayed with me for a week afterwords. I kind of miss that smell.
FLY SAFE.
Wade Nelson
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Posted by Wade Nelson at Thursday, October 15. 2009 
Categories: Search And Rescue
Tags: Phoenix Police Air Support Unit Phoenix Police A109E Power Phoenix Fire Department Special Operations Car 957 Firebird 10
Categories: Search And Rescue
Tags: Phoenix Police Air Support Unit Phoenix Police A109E Power Phoenix Fire Department Special Operations Car 957 Firebird 10
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