The video is dramatic: a North Carolina State Highway Patrol helicopter, hovering just off the rocky summit of Grandfather Mountain. Underneath, a man dangles by a narrow rope, as wind from the helicopter’s rotor whips the trees like a hurricane.
“If you're not nervous, you're not breathing,” said that man, Daniel Richardson.
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Richardson is a captain with the Raleigh Fire Department. Saturday, he was part of a team that flew from Raleigh in a State Highway Patrol helicopter, dodging storms for much of the 200-mile flight, to help pluck a 21-year-old hiker off the summit of Grandfather Mountain. The hiker had fallen 50 feet from the famous Profile Trail.
“Time was of the essence,” said Brad Jones, the pilot.
While Jones held the aircraft steady - relying on his instruments and another team member in the back - Richardson and another firefighter, Jason Ceisner, were lowered down to the mountain. Fighting through thick, slippery brush, they connected with rescue crews on the ground, loaded up the injured hiker, then lifted him to safety.
“I was telling him everything we were doing. I want my patient to feel as comfortable as they can be with me. They're in a very obviously bad situation,” said Ceisner.
This team is part of a special network of search and rescue crews, called NCHART. It includes the North Carolina National Guard, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and firefighters from roughly 10 different agencies across the state. They’re trained to extract the injured and missing by air when getting them out on the ground would be dangerous or impossible.
“This year so far, we've seen three actual requests for NCHART,” said Wes Powell, the emergency services coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Emergency Management.
Saturday’s rescue, this team says, was textbook. The hiker was airlifted to a hospital in Tennessee, alive and safe.
“I really hope that he does well,” said Ceisner. “And if he ever wants to reach out, please reach out. I would love to have a conversation with him.”
“It means the world to us,” said Brad Jones, the pilot. “I mean, that's that's the greatest feeling you can get: to try to help somebody.”