Chopper 4’s miracle pilot, back home in Jersey yesterday, said his experience flying helicopters in Vietnam helped him survive his dramatic crash in Brooklyn.
“You just try to keep it straight and level. They teach you that in flight school,” said Russ Mowry, 60, at his Lincoln Park home.
Mowry, a helicopter pilot for 35 years, said he’d had “hundreds” of hours’ experience in the model that crashed onto a Flatbush rooftop, the Aerospatiale AS350, which is widely used in TV news.
His employer, Helinet Aviation Services, is one of the three biggest contractors for helicopter news crews. Mowry said he’s flown Helinet aircraft for Channels 4, 5, and 11.
Mowry flew with a Special Operations group in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. “We inserted troops into Laos and Cambodia. It was illegal at that time,” he said.
He crashed twice during the war, but escaped unscathed both times. Mowry was awarded the Bronze Star and the Silver Star.
Nothing he saw in ‘Nam compared with his fateful flight over Flatbush on Tuesday, Mowry said.
“The last image in my mind was, I knew I was getting very, very close to hitting. I knew it was the end of my life,” he said.
“There’s a defense mechanism that I found out we all have. You fade to black. It’s a very quick fade.”
Mowry’s co-pilot, Hossam Taan, was released from Kings County Hospital Wednesday. Reporter Andrew Torres, was still hospitalized.