Gone West: Heli-Hero James Phelan | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.28.25

Airborne-NextGen-04.29.25

AirborneUnlimited-04.30.25

Airborne-Unlimited-05.01.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.02.25

Fri, May 26, 2006

Gone West: Heli-Hero James Phelan

Involved In First-Ever Heli-Rescue

The Helicopter Association International tells ANN that James “Jim” Phelan has gone west. Phelan was involved in the first helicopter combat rescue. He was also the husband of the late Jean Ross Howard Phelan, the founder of the Whirly-Girls. Phelan passed away at his home on May 16.

Phelan, who was a crew chief, along with pilot Carter Harman, performed the first helicopter combat rescue on April 25-26, 1944. The men flew their Sikorsky YR-4 behind Japanese lines, in the China-Burma jungle, and rescued American pilot Ed “Murphy” Hladovcak, and three British soldiers, when their plane crashed.

On January 26, 1986, the three men were reunited at a special press conference during HAI’s 38th Annual Meeting and Exposition, in Anaheim, California.

Phelan is survived by three daughters and two sons. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Marion, and his second wife, Jean Ross Howard Phelan. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent in Jim Phelan’s name to the Whirly-Girls Scholarship Fund.

FMI: www.rotor.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.30.25)

Aero Linx: Aviators Code Initiative (ACI) Innovative tools advancing aviation safety and offering a vision of excellence for aviators. The ACI materials are for use by aviation pra>[...]

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Agile Aero’s Jeff Greason--Disruptive Aerospace Innovations

From 2016 (YouTube Edition): Who You Gonna Call When You Have a Rocket Engine that Needs a Spacecraft? While at EAA AirVenture 2016, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, sat >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (04.30.25)

"In my opinion, if this isn't an excessive fine, I don't know what is... The odds are good that we're gonna be seeking review in the United States Supreme Court. So we gotta muster>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.30.25): Expedite

Expedite Used by ATC when prompt compliance is required to avoid the development of an imminent situation. Expedite climb/descent normally indicates to a pilot that the approximate>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC