CHOPPERS: Flyby honored Sgt. Moore

On May 9, a four-helicopter flyby was conducted over the cemetery honoring fallen Coeur d’Alene Police Officer Sgt. Greg Moore. The helicopters and air crews participating were from Med Star, Life Flight, Two Bear Air from Montana (Flathead County Sheriffs), and Customs and Border Protection. Civilian ground personnel consisted of retired officers John Preston, mission coordinator and Werner Kremples, the “on the ground” point of contact for the flyby.

This entire mission was put together in 48 hours. The logistics and lack of time to prepare made this a difficult effort as it involved four separate agencies with aircrews that had not flown together prior to this event. Safety is paramount in this type of mission and the flyby was executed with precision and the timing could not have been better.

For those unfamiliar with a funeral flyby, safety is an absolute must. A very specific altitude, airspeed, spacing between aircraft and heading are critical. Timing over the event is made difficult as it requires anticipating the length of time for each speaker and ceremony requirements (i.e. gun salute, flag folding, taps, final call, etc.) and the time necessary for the formation flight to arrive as needed without changing airspeed, making spacing requirements difficult.

To date, I’ve been unable to find any mention or video coverage of the flyby by the news media. This is disappointing because of the special touch the flyby adds to the end of the service and it shows a lack of awareness by our news.

All these individuals need to be commended for their time and effort; Spokane County Sheriffs Deputies, Ellis, Bloomer, Knight, Armstrong, Bangs and Hilton. Civilians John Preston and Werner Kremples.

A. JAMES OLMORE

Post Falls