In search of a flightless Falcon

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Crane | Colorado Army National Guard aviators Staff Sgt. Bryan Scott and Sgt Nick Cornelius search for 6-year-old Falcon Heene from inside a UH-60 Black Hawk over the skies of northeastern Colorado. The boy reportedly went missing from his home in Fort Collins aboard a homemade helium balloon Oct. 15.  

10.16.2009

Story by Sgt. Benjamin Crane 

Colorado National Guard

By Spc. Benjamin Crane and Deb Grigsby Smith
Colorado National Guard

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — The Colorado National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility was called upon to aid in the search for a lost 6-year-old feared to be inside a homemade helium balloon.

Weld County authorities were told the young boy had crawled inside the aircraft before it somehow got released from the family's home in Fort Collins, Colo.

Around 11:30 a.m., a balloon shaped much like an alien space ship was floating over northeastern Colorado. Believing young Falcon Heene was inside, local authorities worked with the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center to request that the Colorado National Guard assist in securing the uncontrolled experimental aircraft.

That is when members of the Army Aviation Support sprung into action.

Initially, an OH-58 Kiowa helicopter was called to the location to provide aerial observation. Minutes later, a UH-60 Black Hawk was dispatched with its crew of five, including a medic.

Pilot Army Col. Christopher Petty and his crew followed the cupcake-shaped saucer as it twirled and floated across the Colorado farmland.

As cold air moved in over the plains, the small craft began to lose altitude.

With one side apparently collapsing from the loss of helium, Weld County authorities and emergency responders raced across a freshly plowed field in an attempt to catch and secure the craft.

As the world watched, the small craft came closer and closer to the ground, eventually landing in the soft furrowed rows of a local farmer's field.

Rescuers quickly opened the small cardboard door of the craft, only to find the boy was not aboard.

Fears then turned to the possibility the boy slipped out of the compartment during flight.

Colorado Guard helicopters returned to their home at Buckley Air Force Base to conserve fuel and await further instructions as rescuers and incident commanders then began to plot a potential search area that was more than two miles wide and spanned two rural counties.

Petty and his crew took to the skies once again assisting local authorities in a frantic aerial search and rescue effort that lasted more than an hour.

Just before ground search efforts were about to be added, local authorities reported young Falcon Heene had been found alive and well. He had reportedly been hiding in the attic of his home.

"As a National Guardsman when you see something unfold like this you want to assist in any way possible because you could potentially save a life," Petty said. "Thinking about that young boy potentially being up there and me having kids myself, we were happy to be able to respond and we were there to be ready to help."

• Date Taken: 10.16.2009
• Date Posted: 10.16.2009 16:45
• Story ID: 40253