Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

&nbsp;

 


On March 22, 2014 an unstable hill collapsed just east of Oso, Wash., setting off what has been called the deadliest landslide in U.S. history. By chance, the Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team (HRT) was conducting a training exercise just 25 miles south at the time.

 


&nbsp;This proximity enabled the mostly volunteer team to dispatch and reach the site within about an hour of the landslide. Their “SnoHawk 10” Bell UH-1H was the first to arrive, about 45 minutes ahead of a U.S. Navy helicopter from NAS Whidbey Island.

 


Over the next several hours, the two helicopters pulled about 14 people from the dirt, silt and sand that blanketed the ground below. The rescue team continued to support efforts at Oso in the ensuing days.&nbsp;

 


The landslide covered about a square mile, swallowing a small, rural group of homes, and more than 40 people lost their lives as a result. All but one of the people pulled out by the two helicopters the day of the landslide survived.

 


For the Snohomish County HRT, the Oso rescue was only one of about 80 calls it gets on average every year. The team’s rescues run the gamut, including missing children, lost Alzheimer’s patients, missing hikers and rafters, people trapped by floods and injured climbers and skiers. The rescues occur both in and out of the county, from urban areas to the most remote regions of the Cascade Mountains.

 


The team’s efforts were honored as part of HAI’s 2015 Salute to Excellence awards, presented annually to individuals and organizations that “exemplify the best of the helicopter industry.” The team was selected as this year’s winner of the Airbus Helicopters Golden Hour Award, which recognizes “an individual, group, or organization that, through a particular activity or contributions over time, has advanced the use of helicopters in the vital mission of air medical transport.” The award was presented during HAI’s Salute to Excellence celebration yesterday evening.

 


“Lost or injured hikers and climbers in Washington State’s rugged Cascade Mountains have no better friends than the Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team,” HAI said in announcing the award.

 


The team is part of the Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue program, staffed by a small core of deputies but primarily comprising more than two dozen volunteers, including pilots, flight medics, crew chiefs and rescue volunteers. They pay for their own equipment and specialized training. The team notes the dedication of the volunteers, saying they uphold the motto, “so that others may live.” The team does not charge for its rescues, relying on a tight budget supported by public funds and donations.

 


In addition to the SnoHawk 10, the team operates SnoHawk 1, a Hughes 500-P (a modified OH-6A) primarily used for law enforcement, search and command-and-control missions.

 


In a year-end post, the team said of 2014: “It has been a year of hard work, from the Oso disaster to lost people to brush fires to collapsed bridges to hurt climbers and hikers. We have been at the ready and responded to the best of our abilities.”

 


&nbsp;

 


&nbsp;

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Honored With Golden Hour Award

Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue honored for sveral lives

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Matt Thurber

News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Upgrade is available at MD Helicopters service centers

First MD500E to MD530F Helicopter Conversion Done

Chad Trautvetter

Commercial shipments nearly doubled, while new military program brought in more than $80M

Bell Soars in 3Q with Higher Civil Helo Deliveries, FLRAA

Charles Alcock

Japan General Aviation Service is already a customer for the larger 429 model

Bell Appoints Japanese Dealer for 505 Helicopter

Plan will help ensure long-term job stability for Portugal workforce

Avincis Strengthens Portugal Helicopter MRO Base

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

HAI Heli-Expo 2015

More In Rotorcraft

First MD500E to MD530F Helicopter Conversion Done

Upgrade is available at MD Helicopters service centers

Bell Soars in 3Q with Higher Civil Helo Deliveries, FLRAA

Commercial shipments nearly doubled, while new military program brought in more than $80M

Bell Appoints Japanese Dealer for 505 Helicopter

Japan General Aviation Service is already a customer for the larger 429 model

Avincis Strengthens Portugal Helicopter MRO Base

Plan will help ensure long-term job stability for Portugal workforce

PHI Adds H175s to Australian Energy Support Fleet

Twin-engine aircraft will be based at Broome in Western Australia

Onboard Talon Dual Cargo Hook Approved in Bell 429

Kits are retrofittable to 429s with existing single- or dual-hook systems

Operators Enrolling in VAI Risk Accreditation Program

ORRA encourages helicopter companies to go beyond traditional risk management

FAA Issues Special Airworthiness Cert for Skyryse One

Single-flight-control user interface makes helicopter flying safer and easier

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN