Budget Constraints Could Ground N.C. SAR Helos

Jan. 20--TRENTON -- It may be the end of Pedro.

Four VMR-1 Search and Rescue helicopters at Cherry Point may be grounded in early 2016 due to budget constraints.

The 2015 U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Plan calls for the HH-46E tandem rotor helicopter, affectionately known as Pedro, to discontinue its SAR missions.

A resolution opposing the measure has been sent to numerous counties and towns throughout the state, Jones County Board Chairwoman Sondra Riggs said. It was also sent to state officials, including the governor, and the N.C. Military Affairs Commission.

Riggs hopes the federal plans, not the helicopters, won't fly.

She wrote a letter that was sent to a number of commissioners around the state asking for support in opposing the plans to ground the helos.

"Please help us save Pedro helicopters and think of the impact on search and rescue missions in Eastern North Carolina," she wrote. "Please call or write to your state and federal representatives as well as the Governor."

Riggs said she well remembers how vital Pedro was in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999 when people were standing on top of their houses.

"If we had not had Pedro helping us ... in 1999," she said, "we would have had numerous people drowning. ... Jones County put in 10 landing sites after Floyd came through the county."

She said Jones County, with a population of about 10,000, is about two-thirds water and forested and undeveloped land with about 500 square miles of highways. It's a wonderland for hunters, but is also a frequent area for people getting lost.

It was less than two months ago when someone was lost and had to be rescued, and the body of a friend who died of a heart attack in the woods was found by Pedro, Riggs said.

Carol Tyndall, a Jones County fire and EMS volunteer for 33 years and retired Emergency Management director after 23 years, said Pedro is vital because much of the county is forest land.

"They have been one of our biggest assets in dealing with Search and Rescue Transport," she said about the HH-46Es.

Tyndall said more military folks have been lost in the federal game lands and around Catfish Lake than civilians.

She said the National Forest Service would probably take up the void left if Pedro is grounded.

"They don't have heat sensors and flairs like Pedro does," she said about the Forest Service.

State troopers do have the equipment, but would likely take longer to find people in rescue efforts, Tyndall said.

"When we lose Pedro," she said, "it's a possibility of losing lives."

SAR personnel train for both military and civilian missions and provide transport services. Pedro performs about 50 rescue missions each year. Last year, they performed at least 22 life-saving missions.

The Coast Guard's plan provides no information as to how the transition will occur to ensure SAR capabilities are not negatively impacted.

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MargaretFishr.

Copyright 2015 - The Free Press, Kinston, N.C.