Welcome to Episode 70 of the Hangar Z Podcast.

The start of 2023 has already been traumatic for law enforcement as Riverside County Sheriff’s lost two deputies within a matter of weeks. This episode is dedicated to Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Isaiah Cordero EOW December 29th, 2022, and Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Darnell Calhoun EOW January 13th, 2023. 

Our hearts go out to their family, friends, and coworkers at RSO as well as the neighboring agencies.

This episode was inspired by those events. Unfortunately, we know this won’t be the last time an Officer Down call goes out and we want to open the conversation that surrounds the Officer down incident.

In aviation, we play a unique role and can have a huge positive impact on the outcome of those incidents but time and effort have to be put in in advance to help us be successful.

There is no one better than Jack Schonely to have this conversation with. This conversation is actually a two-part series of which the second episode will be focused on the aftermath of the officer down call and how we take care of ourselves afterward. 

We are taking the month of March to talk about surviving a career in public safety and public safety aviation so the second part of this conversation will fit in nicely with the overall theme.

For those who don’t know Jack you will need to listen to his full episode #23. 

Jack is a 36-year Law Enforcement Veteran, with 31 years at LAPD 19 of which were spent in the Air Support Division as both a TFO and Command Pilot. Jack created and instructs a course titled “Apprehending Fleeing suspects.” Jack has also written a book available online with the same title. Jack is a Contributing Editor and writer for Vertical Magazine, Police K9 Magazine, Recoil Magazine, and Police Magazine. 

Jack was the 2017 recipient of the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Law Enforcement Salute to Excellence award in Dallas Texas. 

2016 recipient of the Robert L Cormier Memorial Award from the Airborne Law Enforcement Association. Awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the advancement of aircraft in public service.

2005 Runner up for the Governor’s California Police Officers Standards and Training Instructor of the Year Award.

2004 Air Crew of the Year Award for LAPD Air Support Division.

During this episode, we talk about the three C’s of any call but the importance is stressed in the officer-down incidents which are contain, communicate, and coordinate.

I highly encourage you to seek out Jack’s course or to bring him to your agency or area for training. You can contact him and find more information on Jack through his website  Officertactics.com 

Jack will also be instructing at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Aviation fly in May of 2023. 

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon. 


Lastly, if you could do us a favor and leave us a rating and review on the platform you use to listen to The Hangar Z Podcast we would greatly appreciate it.