FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AP) -
Flagstaff Medical Center's air arm is stepping in to help with search and rescue missions in northern Arizona at a time when the state Department of Public Safety's Flagstaff-based helicopter is grounded much of the time due to budget constraints.
Recent search and rescue missions flown by Guardian Air included when a parachutist was killed near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers.
Another recent mission delivered search-and-rescue personnel into Meteor Crater when a man jumped a fence and leapt into a mineshaft.
The Arizona Daily Sun reports that the DPS' Flagstaff-based Ranger helicopter alternates being operational with the DPS helicopter based in Kingman.
Likewise, DPS helicopters in Phoenix and Tucson take turns being operational in southern Arizona.
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