« Lost British Backpacker Changes His Mind about Those Donations
Austria Will Require Ski Helmets this Winter »

Utah Pilot Makes Circus-Stunt Landing to Rescue Trapped Hiker

By Rocky Thompson on August 26th, 2009

Terry Mercer flew with the Navy for 20 years before joining the Utah Department of Public Safety where he now flies the rescue chopper. He was called in to rescue a 49-year-old biology teacher who’d fallen down a slot canyon and dialed 911 from his cell phone. He parked his 37-foot-long helicopter on a narrow pinnacle of rock jutting out from the mountain 11 times while shuttling rescue workers back and forth from the site. CBS has a video of the rescue and the helicopter parked on top of the rock. Looks like a nice picnic spot.

Share on Facebook

Post to Twitter

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at 6:51 am and is filed under Hiking, Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Utah Pilot Makes Circus-Stunt Landing to Rescue Trapped Hiker”

  1. utahrd August 26th, 2009 at 8:12 am

    epic.

  2. Mike August 26th, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    I am a satisfied customer of Backcountry.com and a proud member of Washington County Search and Rescue.
    I am in most of the pictures of the rescue (Yes, half the gear I am wearing came from BackCountry.com).
    And, I am the one that shot the Video from my Cell Phone (let me know if you want to purchase rights to it.. I am sure we could do trade out in gear!!!).
    Full, unedited video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHeCORxU_mI
    The Full Story:
    https://news.washeriff.net/2009/08/18/search-for-missing-hiker-a-success/
    Lots of great pictures:
    http://www.wcsar.com/rescues_photos.aspx?dir=2009_08_18_Red_Mountain_Rescue

    Great example of your gear IN ACTION.