Firefighter threatened with arrest in NC after using own helicopter to rescue hurricane victims as Biden-Harris admin restricts private flights, drones over affected areas

A South Carolina volunteer firefighter was threatened with arrest after he used his own helicopter to assist with rescue efforts in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene’s devastating impact on the area. This comes as the Biden-Harris administration's Department of Transportation has set up a no-fly zone for drones in the area, and issued a temporary no-fly zone for private flights.

Jordan Seidhom told Queen City News that when he woke up on Saturday, he saw a post on Facebook regarding a family stranded in Banner Elk, North Carolina. After researching the mountains where the family was located on his mapping software and finding a place to land, he loaded his helicopter with bottled water and food and headed toward the town.

"I thought, I have a helicopter, maybe I can help," Seidhom, who is also the former head of the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office narcotics unit, said. Seidhom’s son, a high school junior, also went with him, both men being volunteer firefighters with the Sandhills Volunteer Fire Department in Pageland, South Carolina. As a pilot, Seidhom has logged nearly 1,400 flight hours.

Seidhom contacted the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport’s Air Traffic Control tower for clearance to fly over the airport. Once that was given, he flew over and towards the mountains by way of Lake Lure. Landing next at the nearest airport in the Lake Lure area, Seidhom spoke with law enforcement and first responders to coordinate communications channels and find out where help was needed. He lifted off in the direction of Black Mountain, making four rescues. 

The father and son woke up on Sunday morning after sleeping in a pilot lounge at a nearby airport to social media and text messages as well as phone calls from people pleading for help. Seidhom and his son made the decision to go back out on Sunday to assist in recovery efforts, heading through the mountain gap in Lake Lure.

“As we were flying by, my son actually spotted a lady waving for help. And I asked him, I said, ‘Hey, is she waving for help or she just waving?’ He said, ‘No, I think she’s waving for help.’”

They checked for power lines and trees that may be in the way, and landed on the couple’s destroyed driveway. After coming up with a gameplan, Seidhom loaded the wife into the helicopter and left his son there, fearing placing too much weight on the deteriorating driveway. "I originally left my son, copilot, on the side of the mountain. It was kind of unstable, so I didn’t want to put more weight on the helicopter to lift back off. So, I left my son with the other victim. And I was just going to take one person down at the time," Seidhom said.

He landed after a three-minute flight at a parking lot at Boys Camp Road and Memorial Highway. “Once we landed where emergency personnel were, I was met by a fire chief or maybe a captain, and he asked me who I was. I told him who I was, who I was with, just a local volunteer,” Seidhom said. The man was from an out-of-state fire department who’d traveled to North Carolina to assist in the rescue efforts, Seidhom said.

After talking with the official about his background, Seidhom said “in the middle of the whole conversation and them blocking the road off, I was greeted by the – at that time I didn’t know – but the Lake Lure fire chief, or assistant chief, maybe. And he shut down the whole operation.”

Seidhom said the Lake Lure official asked who he was, and Seidhom gave him the same information he had given the out-of-state fire official. "His response was, if you have that kind of experience, you should know that you should be coordinating with us. And I said, I’ve been coordinating with everybody as I’ve been here just the day before, speaking with local law enforcement, other rescue personnel."

The official ordered Seidhom to leave and not come back. However, Seidhom’s son and the woman’s husband were still stranded.

“If that’s what you want us to do, we’ll leave no issue. And I explained to him that I left my son on the side of the mountain, and I left another victim. I was going to go back and bring them, it was already set up for the landing spot and then I would get out of his area. He told me I wasn’t going to go back up the mountain to get them, I was going to leave them there.”

When asked for a specific reason he was ordering the stop of the rescue effort, the official said "you’re interfering with my operation." Seidhom said that the official told him to report to Rutherford County Airport and wait for the Federal Aviation Administration to meet with him.

“I’m going back and getting my copilot. He said, ‘If you turn around and go back up the mountain, you’re going to be arrested.’ I said, ‘Well, sir, I’m going back to get my copilot, I don’t know what to tell you.'” The official then called over two officers and again threatened arrest. 

“At that point, I had to make a decision. I have a victim, I have my son, and I politely asked the officers, told him the situation again, explained everything, told them who I’d been coordinating with, and I said, ‘Hey if I go back up and get this victim and bring him down to this landing spot that other emergency personnel have designated, am I going to be arrested? And the officers’ response was, ‘Man, I really don’t know what to do in this situation.'"

The out-of-state fire chief and captain spoke with Seidhom before he took off, and he recalled them as saying, "Hey, man, we can’t tell you to go get the victim. We can’t even ask you to go get the victim, but we can tell you if you come back with the victim, we’ll have you a designated landing spot and we’ll make sure they don’t come over here."

Seidhom got back into his helicopter and took off in the direction of his son and the rescued woman’s husband. When he arrived he explained what happened at the airport. He picked up his son but had to leave the husband behind on the mountain side. The father and son reported to the airport, but FAA officials never came. "I did leave the Rutherford Airport. I knew at that point he had no jurisdiction, I was legal in what I was doing, and I was following all FAA guidelines and airspace guidelines. I was on private property."

Seidhom said that within a half hour of the threat of arrest, a Temporary Flight Restriction was set up over the Lake Lure gap, where he had been conducting rescue efforts. The father and son flew home, calling off their efforts. On Monday though, that temporary restriction was lifted, and Seidhom threw food and water into his helicopter and headed back to Lake Lure and joined up with the Carolina Emergency Response Team, which has called for private helicopters to help in efforts.

A no-fly zone for drones have been set up in multiple areas of North Carolina by the FAA. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that temporary flight restrictions have been set up for drones and flights to allow for "flights or drone activity that might be involved in helping to allow those emergency responders to do their job.