As the clock ticked toward 1 p.m. Thursday, 500 excited students at Truman Middle School scanned the northern skies for a sign or sound.
“It’s right there,” said Mikael Fowlkes, aka Kobra — his Truman aviation club call sign.
“That’s a bird,” his friend corrected him.
Seconds later, the distinctive whoomp-whoomp of a helicopter could be heard behind treetops, and a chorus of cheers went up as a bright orange chopper appeared on the horizon.
Moments later, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Zach Brown steered his Dolphin MH-65 helicopter over the screaming crowd, circled back and hovered over the school’s baseball field. Drivers along North Pearl Street slowed and gaped at the spectacle.
Soon, a rescue swimmer was being lowered from the helicopter onto the field. Looking up, the wide-eyed students stared in amazement. Looking down, so did the swimmer.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Coast Guard rescue swimmer Erickson Formiller said moments after he reached the turf, unhooked his harness and joined the crowd. “I didn’t expect that many people waving back. It was pretty amazing.”