High flying birds - Niagara Helicopters

NIAGARA HELICOPTERS Article: Martine Mackenzie | Photos: Haskell Photography

Photos: Haskell Photography

“Somewhere, over the rainbow, blue birds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why can’t I?”

YOU CAN! In fact, anyone can! Just come on down to Niagara Helicopters Flightseeing Tours and you too can fly over a rainbow AND over Niagara Falls, plus pretty much anywhere else in the Niagara/Toronto region.

Since 1961, Niagara Helicopters has been providing visitors to the Falls, VIPs, and locals with the exciting experience of soaring above the turbulent rapids and cascading waterfalls. With over 50 years of service, experienced pilots and a courteous ground crew to ensure your comfort and safety, there is no doubt that you will be in for the ride of a lifetime.

Anna Pierce, Vice President and General Manager, has been with the organization since she was in high school. Anna began selling tickets at the tender age of 16. Ruedi Hafen, who was a pilot at the time and also a family friend of Anna’s bought the business after the original owner passed away. When Anna finished university, Ruedi brought her on board as the Marketing and Operations Assistant, and along with his business partner, the three of them did everything they had to do to keep the business going. “When we first started, we had 8 buses that season. The following season, we were up to 80! And the business has grown exponentially since then,” Anna recounts.

As the business continued to grow, so did Anna’s role, as she was soon named Marketing Director. In 2011, Ruedi sold the business to Helicopter Transport Services of Canada, a family-owned corporation based out of Ottawa, and they named Anna to the position of Vice-President of Operations and General Manager, a role she continues to love and excel in to this day. Anna oversees a crew of 28 full-time staff which increases during the peak season, when Niagara Helicopters employs roughly 40 people who help run the four, 7-passenger customized Airbus H130 helicopters. When asked how many people climb aboard for the trip of a lifetime, Anna chuckles. “It’s funny, how when we first started, we saw those 8 buses and now, we see 80, 000 to 100,000 visitors a season.”

Niagara Falls continues to attract an array of celebrities every year, so it stands to reason that they would want to get the best view possible of the mighty cataracts. Funnily, most celebrities travel incognito and Anna says, “We usually have no idea that they are even coming. We’ve had Elton John come through and the Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno when he was here for the annual ComicCon a few years ago. Emma Watson flew with us and so did our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but that was before he was PM. We’ve taken Kelly Ripa up twice. We flew Kelly and her son, Michael, for his 20th birthday into Two Sisters Vineyards for a celebration. Russell Crowe wanted to surprise his wife for her birthday and we flew the two of them into one of our wineries as well.”

If you think that chartering one of Niagara Helicopters is a privilege reserved for the rich and famous, think again. “Our biggest secondary market is the charter business, flying anyone from visitors, to corporate groups, to celebrities and VIPs. We take them all over the place, most often right into some of our wonderful Niagara wineries. We fly them over the Falls first and then land at the winery. Even if you aren’t a rock star, you can feel like one,” adds Anna with a laugh. With over 50, 000 acres of grapes and over 90 wineries, it’s easy to see how visitors have their breath taken away by the beauty of the Niagara Fruit Belt. Niagara Helicopters offers a variety of special flights and Niagara and Toronto charter services, and offers exclusive pick-up and drop-off services at Toronto Island Airport and Toronto Polson Pier Airport in downtown Toronto, as well as Toronto Pearson International Airport.

However, it’s not always fun and games at Niagara Helicopters. Anna takes a very serious note when she begins speaking of the many search and rescue missions that they participate in. When asked how many, she said, “Too many to count!” The Niagara Gorge is famous for its hiking trails. The rock formation from tens of thousands of years of erosion and the unique regional flora and fauna provide a fabulous backdrop for a great hike. Experts and amateurs alike take to the trails by the thousands every season. Regardless of experience and skill levels, what many don’t realize is that the gorge trails can become very slippery, very quickly and people sometimes go down not realizing that they have to get back up that very steep incline.

“Sometimes, people with pre-existing conditions, like heart or blood pressure get down there and just can’t get back up. Then there are those who fall. They call 911 and if the police and fire department can get to them that’s great – but 90% of the time, by the time they get the rescue equipment down there…well it just takes too much time. Can you imagine trying to get a stretcher down that gorge, against the foliage and rocks, and then back up,” Anna asks. Enter Niagara Helicopters, who, with its trained pilots, provides an essential service working with both the police and fire departments to ensure successful rescues. In order to facilitate the job of the pilots, the Niagara Parks Commission poured a concrete pad at an open spot at the base of the gorge so that the choppers can land. “It’s really a team effort and operation. We work with the jet boats as well, but sometimes they can’t get close enough because the currents of the rapids are just too strong. Because we help in so many rescues, our pilots train with police and fire on a regular basis. It’s quite an operation, but with the helicopters involved, it helps in not endangering rescuers where even trying to get equipment down there is hazardous,” says Anna.

Rescues don’t just occur down river either. There are many times when individuals don’t realize that the water going over the Falls is controlled by a series of gates up river by 50% overnight for hydroelectric purposes. Anna adds, “People sometimes wander out into the upper river to fish early in the morning, and will end up on a series of rocks, casting their lines. Once the gates are opened by Ontario Hydro, and the water levels start to rise, they become stranded. And we get the call!”

Fortunately, the majority of the rescues end on a positive note. Anywhere that you may find yourself close to the Falls or to the gorge, you will see only few other flying machines as the air space is restricted. Niagara Helicopters is very fortunate to share these phenomenal skies so close to such amazing natural wonders. There is no age limit to fly and their facilities are 100% wheelchair accessible. While you are enjoying a view that you can’t possibly get anywhere else on Earth, you will be provided with taped commentary in 12 different languages, including English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, and many more. Niagara Helicopters also provides aerial photography charters so that customers, such as real estate developers, hoteliers, television stations and film companies are able to get the most amazing footage and shots of the mighty Niagara.

Breathtaking, spectacular, astounding, phenomenal, world-class… it doesn’t matter how many adjectives you use to describe the experience of taking a flight with Niagara Helicopters. None of them will do the experience justice. You have to JUST DO IT! TM