Episode 217: Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Henry 1 Helicopter

In this episode of The Real ResQ Podcast, host Jason Quinn sits down with the crew of “Henry 1,” the busy Bell 407 from Sonoma County Sheriff’s OfficeHelicopter Unit. 

The crew includes Chris Haas, Nigel Cooper, Larry Matelli, and Jamal Cook.

Recorded live on location in Sonoma County, California, right outside their hangar and in front of their Bell 407, the team shares insights into their unique role  with the county’s all-purpose helicopter. Henry 1 handles everything from law enforcement and firefighting to medevac support and search-and-rescue, covering a diverse and challenging region that includes wine country, rugged hills, rocky coastal cliffs, and cold waters.

The crew reflects on some of their most memorable rescue calls. Haas recalls his very first day with Henry 1, responding to a plane crash, followed immediately by a mountain bike accident. Cooper shares his experience rescuing individuals whose vessel overturned off the Sonoma coast. Matelli talks about a cliff jumper recovery, while Cook recounts a water rescue involving an overturned kayak.

The team also dives into some of their most notable rescues that gained public attention, including:

• A dramatic cliff rescue that made national headlines, featured by NBC News and the Today Show.
• Three separate mountain bike accidents in different locations within a single 24-hour period, covered by The Press Democrat.
• A boat crash on the rocks with a deceased person onboard, reported by KRON4.
• A rescue featured in Road and Track magazine, where a car had plunged off Highway 1.
• A series of five rescues on the Russian River in California, highlighted on Patch.com.

There’s much more to the story of Sonoma County Sheriff’s Henry 1. You can learn more about their operations in the Spring 2025 Mega Issue of Vertical Valor. For additional insight into their law enforcement and public safety missions, check out Jon Gray’s interview with the team on The Hangar Z Podcast, Part 1 and Part 2. There is a short YouTube video on Sonoma County on the Vertical YouTube channel. And to see their rescue operations in action, watch the video clips (cliff and water rescue training, mountain bike rescue training and hillside rescue training) where Jason Quinn joins them for two days of training.

Enjoy!

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