Valley woman thrives as an EMS pilot, inspiring women

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — A Valley woman is paving the way for others as an FAA-certified helicopter pilot. Last year, women represented about 6% of all FAA-certified pilots. The number of female helicopter pilots is believed to be much smaller. 

“I thought I wanted to have an office job working 9-5 and my mom said, ‘That sounds so boring. I thought you’d do something wild like be a helicopter pilot,’” Erica Angel said. She knew the first time she jumped into a helicopter that it was exactly what she wanted to do.

That first helicopter ride is one, she said, she’ll never forget.

“I had never been in a helicopter when I started flight school,” she said. “It was scary, it was a tiny helicopter with no doors, my hair was going everywhere and it was loud. It was very exciting.”

She said flight school was a lot of books and classroom work but also included flight time with an instructor. A year later, Erica was fully licensed and hooked on becoming a pilot.

“I could see this being my office for the rest of my career,” she said.

However, she needed flight time in order to be considered for a job. She became a flight instructor, teaching others how to fly for a few years, and then flew tours of the Grand Canyon for several more years. 

“I had never seen the Grand Canyon, so flying over it was very cool, it is huge!” she said. “We would take passengers, multiple trips a day, take them to the bottom and serve them lunch and champagne and then fly around and take them back.”

Her true calling of becoming an EMS Pilot persisted, and while on her way to visit family in California for her birthday, she interviewed for a job with Air Methods. It was shortly after that she was hired.

“The interview was scary,” she said. “Because it’s a lot of pressure, it’s the job I wanted, I had to get this. I almost cried I was so excited when they called me, but then it was a whole new wave of stress because the job is so different compared to flying tours during the day.”

Angel said she was ready and pretty soon, the stress went away. She has since worked in Arizona, Nevada and South Carolina, helping people in emergencies get to the care they need.

“Hospital transfers, we do on scene calls like accidents, car accidents, boat accidents,” she said. “Situations where people are in remote locations and need to be somewhere quick. Maybe they’re out hiking and it would be an hour drive but we can get them there in 15 minutes. At first you get in your head that it’s so sad, but you have to think of it as, if I weren’t here for these people they wouldn’t be getting where they need to.”

Recently, Angel saw a posting for the need of an EMS pilot in Goodyear. In February, Air Methods launched Native Air 23, its newest emergency medical base in the West Valley. It adds to the existing Native Air program, working with sister bases in Mesa and in Phoenix, providing critical air medical services to Maricopa, Pinal, Gila and Yavapai counties.

Officials say the additional base offers quicker response times for emergent and trauma situations, as well as interfacility transports for patients needing to move between hospitals. Angel applied and received word she’d landed the job. 

“I feel honored to be part of it; it’s empowering,” she said. “It’s definitely high pressure.

Angel flies with a nurse and medic. While their focus is on the patient, Erica’s is about getting everyone on board from point A to point B safely.

“At the end of the day, safety is a pilot concern, so getting home safe is my primary job,” she said.

Angel encourages women to sign up if interested.

“All the companies I’ve worked for have been inclusive and hire everybody,” she said. “It’s been good. It’s been a good career for me. The guys in this industry have been nice and welcoming, so that’s good. I would say we can do it just as good if not better than men. I would argue we’re more cautious and we can multi-task, which is a huge thing with everything going on in the cockpit.”

As her time in the West Valley takes off, she encourages women to follow their dreams because nothing is out of reach and the sky is the limit.