HAATS Pilots Constantly Save Lives While Training In The Mountains
SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - CBS4's Matt Kroschel on Wednesday got a chance to ride along with military members as they conducted training in helicopters in Colorado's mountains. It's called HAATS, or High Altitude Army Aviation Training.
Just last week in Summit County the Colorado National Guard crews up at the High Altitude Training Center were called into action and saved a climber to fell.
"Can't peg a metric to how many lives we have saved," said Colorado National Guard pilot Darren Freyer.
Flying the powerful machines is hard enough, but trying to fly in high elevations makes for an even bigger challenge.
"In fact it's the only one of its kind in the D.O.D. or Department of Defense," Freyer said.
The HAATS school teaches pilots from across the country how to control their power at elevations over 10,000 feet where the air is thin and the margin for error is small. From the inside a classroom at the school's headquarters in Gypsum the students plan training missions, but frequently those plans change.
"As we went out for student training we got the call that a hiker had been injured down near Ouray," Freyer said.
Calls from rescue crews across the state who need help getting to victims in difficult terrain often go out to the National Guard.
"(We) generally get a call at least once or twice a week, especially during the summer -- the weekends are very busy for us," Freyer said. "There's always someone running around up in the mountains that needs to get help."
Even on those rescue missions, the pilots in training gain valuable real world experience while saving lives in Colorado's high country.
People who end up being rescued by HAATS crews don't get a bill.
