Blog

Excerpt from the Book – #3

Life Inside the Dead Man’s Curve – The Chronicles of a Public-Safety Helicopter Pilot by Kevin McDonald

Excerpt from the Book – #3:

My rational voice was shouting at me, telling me to turn the call down. My naval aviator voice was whispering in the background, telling me this was what I was trained to do. There was no getting around it, this was a moment that could define my career as a public-safety helicopter pilot—or possibly finish it.

Head still down, eyes still closed, I took a deep breath and forcefully exhaled. Dammit! I thought to myself. I didn’t come here to spend the whole night turning down rescue calls. If we can’t go get these people when they’re this close to our hangar, we should pack it up and go home.

When I opened my eyes and turned around, Chris Jones-Piercy was holding her radio up, waiting to relay my answer to the dispatcher.

“Let’s mount up!” I said.

Chris keyed her radio and said, “STAR Flight Two responding to FM 685 at Brushy Creek.”

Jim Allday hit the button that opened the hangar door, and as it opened, we were instantly drenched by wind-driven masses of rain—blowing straight in toward us.

Comments are closed.