Now accepting applications for 2012.
Mission Statement
The Grand Canyon Flight Crew provides safe and practical training opportunities for helicopter managers and helicopter crewmembers from all agencies to ascertain or increase their aviation knowledge and experience in a professional and educational atmosphere.
History
In the spring of 2000, the Helicopter Training Academy was born with 13 students. The students were used to meet the minimum staffing levels needed to keep up with the variety of missions and daily workloads here in the Park and the surrounding areas like the Kaibab National Forest. Within the first year of its creation, the Academy illustrated why there was such a necessity for interagency helicopter training.
The Academy has been managed by several members from Grand Canyon Flight Crew throughout the years. Crew members have each brought new training topics, instructional methods, and ideas. Coupled with feedback from each HTA student, it has lead to the current program which includes workbooks, didactic trainings, practical field opportunities, and sometimes, more unique missions like slinging stuck boats from the Colorado River or relocating threatened or endangered species to a new habitat.
Reflecting on the Helicopter Training Academy of 2011 will no doubt bring change and improvement for future students. We received many brilliant suggestions and will be implementing several of these changes for the summer of 2012. The Academy hosted 19 formal students here at the South Rim and numerous others informally that came to support and learn from our program. Additionally, we taught 7 other crew members on road assignments this summer across the nation. This was a very busy year for us here from fires and medivacs to several large project missions. We look forward to welcoming the new students for 2012 and wish everyone good luck with their applications.
