The MD-HART crew, consisting of five Maryland soldiers who are pilots, crew chiefs, and a hoist operator on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter along with three rescue technicians from the Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery County fire departments, completed 29 sorties during their nine-day mission in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. Throughout MD-HART missions, the crew rescued 83 individuals including children and infants, as well as 20 dogs and cats. They conducted 59 hoist missions to rescue people and deliver food and water to people who were cut off from the ground-based rescue efforts because roads were blocked or washed out by the flood waters before returning to Maryland on October 7, 2024, after their lifesaving...
