New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“On Wednesday afternoon and evening, multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the woods behind the Southeastern Regional Vocational High School in Easton to search for two missing teenage boys, who were believed to be lost in the thick woods.
More than 30 first responders searched for the teens during a four-hour rescue operation. The Massachusetts State Police Air Wing launched Air 2, one of the unit’s helicopters, to assist in the search.
The crew flying MSP Air 2 that shift, pilot Sergeant Gregg Spooner and Tactical Flight Officers Trooper Timothy Hunt and Trooper Brian LeClair, got on station and used numerous tools to locate the teens, including their public address speaker, color camera, and FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed) camera. At 5:50 PM the flight crew, using the FLIR, which detects heat signatures, located the missing teens in dense woods and directed ground units to their location and then guided them out of the woods.
The wood cover and vegetation in the area was so dense that the rescue team on the ground had to use chain saws to cut their way into and out of the woods and the rescuers and teens had to navigate through deep mud several times. The teens, who were missing for approximately six hours, were suffering from dehydration.
The Air Wing flight crew displayed an excellent command of their skills and the aircraft’s capabilities in successfully assisting in the rescue operation.
This is the Air Wing video showing the moment when the flight crew located the teens.” -Massachusetts State Police.
