WE’RE CHECKING ON reports that three helicopters flew low over Port Angeles residential areas last night (Wednesday night).
Some residents said that the flyover — with the noisy helicopters only a couple a hundred feet high — happened at about 9:30 p.m., and that one of the mystery choppers shined a spotlight on houses.
We didn’t get any descriptions of the helicopters.
A PenCom emergency dispatcher said no calls apparently had come in Wednesday night.
“I don’t see anything on the call logs at all,” said Mike O’Connor, dispatcher, this morning
IF YOU SAW or heard the helicopters, could you let us know? Comment below (you need to be a member of Facebook to use our comment box), emailing news@peninsuladailynews.com or giving Managing Editor Leah Leah a phone call at 360-417-3531.
In an incident that got national attention, Army helicopters from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma — four Chinooks supported by several Black Hawk attack choppers — flew an unannounced late-night training exercise over Port Angeles homes in July.
The training exercise by pilots of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment ran from about 10:30 p.m. July 11 to about 2 a.m. July 12.
The Coast Guard station in Port Angeles, used for takeoffs and landings by the Army choppers, was notified, but the exercises surprised local law enforcement and the public.
Dozens of alarmed residents called police to ask what was going on and said the noise and lights panicked horses and other livestock, and woke up sleeping children.
Port Angeles Mayor Cherie Kidd, saying the visitation “terrorized my city,” met later with Col. H. Charles Hodges Jr., Lewis-McChord’s garrison commander, at the base.
At Kidd’s suggestion, Hodges attended a Port Angeles City Council meeting to apologize and assure local residents that prior notification would be provided in the future of military exercises in the Port Angeles area.
