A volunteer helicopter pilot said a local first responder threatened him with arrest if he flew back into the Hurricane Helene disaster zone in North Carolina and finished rescuing a stranded couple, according to a report.
Jordan Seidhom, the owner of a scrap metal recycling business in South Carolina, told Charlotte Fox affiliate WJZY that he took it upon himself to fly over the hard-hit area of Lake Lure — where he said there were no flight restrictions when he journeyed to the town on Sept. 28 and 29.
Mr. Seidhom, who has logged more than 1,400 flight hours and also works as a reserve police officer and volunteer firefighter, said he took his middle-school-age son with him on the mission and eventually spotted Mike and Susan Coffey on a mountainside.
The couple told the station that their home was wiped out by flood waters, and they drove to higher ground in hopes of being spotted by rescue teams.
But the couple sat idly for three days — and even spelled out “S.O.S.” in rocks — as helicopters passed by.
Finally, Mr. Seidhom came to their aid in his small black copter. The pilot had his son wait with Mr. Coffey as he took his wife to a nearby rally point for rescuers.
After getting her to safety, the volunteer told officials he had to go back into the disaster zone.
That’s when he said Lake Lure Assistant Fire Chief Chris Melton told him he would be greeted with handcuffs upon his return.
“I’m going back and get my copilot,” Mr. Seidhom recalled telling Chief Melton, according to WJZY. “He said, ’If you turn around and go back up the mountain, you’re going to be arrested.’ I said, ’Well, sir, I’m going to get my copilot. I don’t know what to tell you.’ And he said, ’I’m letting you know.’”
Mr. Seidhom said the assistant chief called over two police officers and repeated his threat to arrest the volunteer if he brought back the husband.
Mr. Seidhom said he flew back to Mr. Coffey, informed him of the situation and then flew off with his son.
“He takes off, I had no idea where my wife was. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on. Like, how did this make sense?” Mr. Coffey told WJZY. “And when, if ever, I was going to be reunited with her, how long it would take for some other rescue crew to get back to me.”
The husband decided to walk down to a flooded river and catch the attention of officials on the other side. A rescuer swam across, secured Mr. Coffey to a rope and helped guide him across to safety.
Mr. Coffey said Mr. Seidhom was a “hero,” but the volunteer pilot wished he ignored the threats from officials.
“If I had to do it over again, I would have stopped and I would have rescued as many people until they decided they were going to arrest me,” Mr. Seidhom told the station.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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