USPP Helicopter Employed To Rescue Teenager From Potomac

“Eagle,” the US Park Police helicopter, flew to Great Falls on the Potomac River last Saturday afternoon to assist with the rescue of an 18-year-old man who’d fallen into the river’s swift-flowing waters. Although he managed to get to a rock in the rapids, he was unable to return to the shoreline. Fairfax County firefighters threw him a life vest and helmet, but decided that hazardous river conditions precluded a rescue by boat. The only alternative, therefore, was to extract him via a helicopter hoist. Pilot Keaton Wright brought “Eagle” to a hover 60 feet above the falls and rescue technician Chris Perkins lowered a Billy Pugh rescue device to the man. He was hoisted safely in the helicopter and brought to shore.