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