Blackhawk Departure

About 500 yards from my apartment is the Queen's Medical Center helipad. It's where the US Army's 524th Corps Support Battalion (Medevac) Sikorsky UH-60A "Blackhawk" helicopters drop-off extreme emergency medical cases to the Queen's Trauma Center. On call 24-7 to assist Honolulu's Emergency Medical Services, these helicopters fly in patients from outlying areas on O‘ahu. Currently, the 524th is deployed to the Iraqi theatre, and a detachment from an active duty unit from Alaska has stepped in to fill the void, since the Hawai‘i Army National Guard "Blackhawk" unit that was supposed to substitute, was also activated for the Iraqi theatre. Fly safe!

In today's photo, it's a long-exposure night shot of a "Blackhawk" from the 524th departing the Queen's helipad, heading back to Wheeler Army Air Field, in Wahiawa. The chopper came in about 10pm, dropped off the patient, and departed about 20 minutes later. The second streak of light is an Aloha Airlines inter-island cargo flight. I could not have asked for better timing than to get the two take-offs.

While I was moving into my apartment (10 years ago), we would see "Blackhawks" make their medevac flights during the day. In my first night in my new home, I was awakened at 5:30am to the sound of an in-bound "Blackhawk", which acted as my alarm clock. I have heard flights come and go at all hours of the day. Like any other sound, I have become rather immune to it, though I will watch every once-in-a-while. It's a treat to watch these pilots stick the landing on the pad. Occaisonally, pilots will perform touch-and-go landings to train new pilots, or re-qualify current pilots.