NORFOLK, Va. — For four decades, the Nightingale helicopter ambulance has saved lives, high over the skies of Hampton Roads.
It was Feb. 25, 1982, when Nightingale took off for the first time. It was the first hospital-based helicopter ambulance in Virginia.
Three aircraft and 24,000 patient flights later, the program celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The helicopter program has helped scores of critically ill and injured patients to reach the closest, most appropriate hospital in the shortest amount of time in order to have complex illnesses or injuries immediately addressed.
Pilot Scott Nance is a retired Army chief warrant officer who flew various combat helicopters in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I get to fly a helicopter," he said. "I get to help out the community. It's my second career. Retired Army. Doing this, it's an awesome profession to have."
Nance, two retired Navy pilots and a retired Coast Guard pilot man the controls of Nightingale, with the help of two mechanics, one who was in the Marines and one who was in the Navy.
They already served their country in one way. Now, they're serving it in this way.
"It's nice to know that we contribute to the community, taking people from their worst time back to the hospitals," said Nance.
The program has never made money. It operates at an annual deficit approaching seven figures as part of the Sentara not-for-profit mission.
Nightingale flies more than 700 missions per year and has a remarkable safety record.
There has never been a reportable aviation mishap incident, other than one in-flight "check engine" light a few years back. And, last year, it had a "near-miss" with a wire at a landing zone.