The company also has a dozen other pilots who can work part time, if the workload overwhelms the regulars. Jetcopters now has 23 helicopters (21 at Van Nuys, one in Hawaii and one in Orange County) and 14 full-time pilots, including McKernan’s son Pete Jr., the vice president of administration who runs the company when his father is gone. Only Island Helicopters out of Garden City, N.Y., is larger. McKernan’s company is now the biggest one of its kind in the West. That’s low-level contour flying, meaning that you fly following the contour of the Earth.”Īfter the National Transportation and Safety Board presents its formal report, the FAA is expected to rule on the cause of the “Airwolf” crash sometime in late June or July. Maher, McKernan said, is a specialist in “nap-of-the-Earth” flying, something he did for the Army in Vietnam. His license was suspended for three months (after the crash), which is normal in this kind of situation. “He’s been with us two years, and now he’s back flying again. He also is an Army Reserve helicopter pilot, has an instructor’s license, commercial and instrument rating licenses and has logged about 3,000 hours in helicopters. Maher, 36, is an experienced helicopter pilot, McKernan said, with several thousand hours of experience in low-level flight. He just can’t remember anything after that Wednesday.” He can’t remember four days out of his life. He (Maher) was flying level right-hand circles and dropped 250 feet and hit the hill. I can’t say too much (because of pending lawsuits). “We still haven’t gotten the final ruling from the FAA. “You hate to lose a life,” McKernan said sadly. Crew members managed to pull pilot Scott Maher to safety. 18 when the Jetcopters helicopter he was riding in crashed into a hillside during a scene and burned. Rondell, a third-generation stunt man, was killed Jan. It was on location for an “Airwolf” episode near Newhall, about 25 miles north of Los Angeles, that McKernan’s company suffered its first accident in five years of film flying, tragically, a fatal one for stunt man Reid Rondell, 22, of Canoga Park. “Anyway, what we usually do is hang the stuff on it once we get to the location (most “Airwolf” shows are shot on location).” The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) says you can’t fly it over populated areas with guns and rockets on it. “You add something like guns and rockets,” he explained, “and that puts it in a restricted category. McKernan and the other Jetcopters pilots all have SAG (Screen Actors Guild) cards “because we’re essentially doubles for the actors.”ĭuring an interview at his office at the Van Nuys Airport, McKernan could show visitors the special “Airwolf” copter, a ferocious-looking machine with real guns and rockets, but couldn’t demonstrate its maneuverability in the air because he’s not allowed to fly it over the airport with the guns and rockets attached.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |