NORWICH - On Sunday, January 4, Lt. Warren E. Eaton Airport, located at 6390 State Highway 12 in Norwich, received an incoming call from a10th Mountain Division pilot out of the Fort Drum Army Base requesting fuel for one of their helicopters.

According to Chenango County Planning and Development Director Shane Butler, Airport Operations Frank Turner received the message saying an Apache and Blackhawk helicopter needed to fuel-up.

The helicopters were on their way to do a fly over High Mark Stadium at the Buffalo Bills verses New York Jets game to commemorate the last regular season home game at the stadium.

Butler said crews usually just fly over the airport for training operations but this time was special because they made a stop, which he said is very unusual.

Turner, along with Chenango County Senior Planner Allison Yacano were at the airport, ready to fuel the carriers and get them back on their way.

"Frank was able to take a picture with the crew in front of one of the helicopters," said Butler. "It's definitely a unique experience that doesn't happen often.”

He said the airport would welcome return visits and that service crews focused on getting the helicopters back in the air as fast and professional as possible.

"Although they were an amazing crew and super friendly, we try not to barrage them with too many questions," Butler said.

In an appreciative gesture, the crew offered the service team, Turner and Yacano, Army patches with their unit logo.

Butler explained Lt. Warren E. Eaton Airport is a general aviation airport without an air traffic control tower. He said sometimes people let them know they are stopping, other times they don't. In this instance, Turner was called ahead of time and for security and privacy, the public was not informed of the landings.

"However, there are websites and apps where you can track flights," he continued. "FlightAware did have their arrival and departure publicly listed. We often check FlightAware regularly of if we hear one overhead, we will also check FlightRadar24.”

Butler said the airport appreciated the visit and the purchase of fuel helps keep the airport operational.

He said, “funds are tight, so any unexpected visit is a wonderful thing, and we can only hope this visit will impact future operations at the airport.”

"If we provide a friendly service and competitive fuel prices, we hope they will come back," Butler added. "That's as best we can do."

He also mentioned the airport was working on ideas to welcome back the aircraft, if the opportunity presents itself.

The added spectacle of a Blackhawk and Apache headed to celebrate a major sporting event at a Buffalo Bills game drives attention to the airport and with their upcoming 100th year anniversary, Butler hopes this visit will encourage others to visit the airport.

For good measure, Butler added, "Go Bills." The Bills would go on to win the game against the Jets, 35 to 8.

The U.S. Army military website at www.army.mil states that nearly 15,000 military service members and about 3,700 civilian personal work at Fort Drum with approximately 16,000 family members living on post or in the area.

Fort Drum provides training and base operations support to all of the service branches, 11 states and parts of Canada.

According to Military.com, The Black Hawk Helicopter is rugged and versatile and is trusted for critical missions from air assault to emergency responses around the world.

The UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter is the U.S. Army's primary medium-lift utility transport and air assault aircraft. It is a twin engined, equipped with a single four-bladed rotor and a single four-bladed tail rotor. The basic crew is made up of three: the pilot, co-pilot and crew chief.

With over 5,000 built for 36 nations and over 15 million flight hours, including 5 million in combat.

According to army-technology.com, the Apache Attack Helicopter (AH-64A/D) entered into service with the U.S. Army in 1984. The Ah-64-D Apache Longbow is fitted with fire control radar and the Hellfire missile. The crew consists of two: a pilot and co-pilot/gunner.

A total of about 2,700 have been delivered to the U.S. Army and exported to a number of countries including Egypt, Greece, Israel, India, Korea, Saudi Arabia and more.

More than 1,275 Apache aircraft are currently in service with the U.S. Army and international forces around the world.

The Apache Helicopter has completed five million flight hours including 1.3 million in combat operations as of March 2023. It was first used in combat in 1989 in the US military action in Panama.

For more information on the Lt. Warren E. Eaton Airport, visit their Facebook page at Lt. Warren E. Eaton Airport or at the Chenangocountyny.gov website.

For additional information on the Black Hawk Helicopter, visit lockheedmartin.com website.

For additional information on the Apache Helicopter, visit army-technology.com website.