Welcome to episode 73 of the Hangar Z Podcast

In this episode, we sit down and chat with Samantha Poirier. Samantha is an EMS pilot flying for Reach Air Medical in Northern Colorado.

Samantha has a very impactful and inspirational story that led her to her position as an EMS pilot. 

Samantha's aviation career started working for a helicopter utility company in Alaska performing oil changes, sweeping hangar floors, and answering phones in exchange for flight time. From there she worked her way up to owning a helicopter wildlife capture company where she had the opportunity to fly in the world's most beautiful places that include Alaska. 

She owned the company with her husband where they did everything from capturing big game wildlife for scientific study to drying cherry trees, air tours of Hell's Canyon, wedding flights, photo flights, and wine tours. When she wasn’t flying she was running the company's business end.

Tragedy struck when her husband and 19-year-old cousin were involved in a terrible helicopter crash. The crash took the life of her cousin and catastrophically injured her husband. 

Samantha’s life was completely ripped out from underneath her. And she swore she was never going to fly again. 

Samantha’s passion for aviation would not allow her to stay away. She boldly built up the strength to get back in the seat where she put herself in the position to become an EMS pilot. 

Her motivation to become an EMS pilot stems from an ATV accident her sister was involved in. 

A Reach Air Medical airship responded to her sister's crash, which she credits with saving her sister's life. 

Samantha now works at the same base the ship launched from and with the same crew who saved her sister's life. 

This is an inspirational story you won’t want to miss. 

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