Heads up! Search and rescue helicopter training this weekend, plus helicopter tips

MENDOCINO Co., 5/18/17 — Wondering what those helicopters are flying above you? Well this weekend, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office along with their Napa counterparts will be hosting a multi-agency search & rescue helicopter training in the vicinity of Lake Mendocino, beginning Friday afternoon May 19 and continuing until the evening of Sunday, May 21, during daylight hours. This means there will be increased air traffic in the Ukiah Valley, and the South Lake Mendocino Wildlife area trails will have limited access while the training goes on.

The search and rescue training is co-sponsored by the Mendocino and Napa County sheriffs’ departments as a joint training, similar to one held at Lake Mendocino in 2016. The training will include California National Guard (CNG), California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), Cal Fire, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, US Army Corps of Engineers and both the Napa and Mendocino County Volunteer Search and Rescue (SAR) Teams. The training is in response to a recent increase in search and rescue missions requiring aerial assistance, in order to help prepare emergency and law enforcement agencies for large-scale search operations that often take place in difficult, remote, and mountainous terrain.