The New York State Police Aviation Unit steps in to help law enforcement regularly, but the team is highly trained and versatile enough to work with agencies across the state.

Spectrum News 1 caught up with the crew on board the Bell UH-1 Huey, one of more than 20 State Police helicopters.

What You Need To Know

  • From crime to conservation, New York State Police Aviation Unit steps up to help

  • The State Aviation Unit has four locations across the state

  • They are strategically located to provide maximum coverage of available aviation resources throughout the state

The State Police Aviation Unit has four locations, at Albany International Airport, Adirondack Regional Airport in Saranac Lake, Stewart International Airport in Newburgh and Frederick Douglass - Greater Rochester International Airport.

They are strategically located to provide maximum coverage of available aviation resources throughout the state.

“We can go anywhere in the state at any time, pending weather, and get there and provide a higher level of surveillance and search that wouldn’t normally be available to a local police department or a local EMS agency or even a local fire department," said Tech Sgt. Brandon Zakris of the New York State Police Aviation Unit.

Zakris is one of more than 30 pilots.

Among the other services the team assists with includes searches, surveillance, extradition, traffic incident management and then lifesaving medevac and rescue missions. Crews also work aerial fire suppression and work closely with environmental conservation, not to mention law enforcement. Recently the team was involved in the search for prison escapee Michael Burham.

And in Rochester and Buffalo, the chopper was used in the police search for illegal dirt bikes and ATVs.

“It’s actually much safer for us to be overhead, because while we can direct those vehicles on the ground, they don’t have to be right on the tail of that vehicle as it’s happening all over the city and blowing stop signs and intersections,” he said. “We can provide that level of surveillance for them often without the suspect knowing that we’re overhead and if they get out and ditch the car or start to run we can immediately have those ground units there while providing aerial overwatch for them.”

State Police say they cannot comment on any incidents of crashes in the news, but pilots do come with significant experience and say they go through intensive training.