Local pilot shot down in Iraq, but is OK

A Marine helicopter pilot from Kalispell was shot down over Fallujah, Iraq, this week, but he escaped unharmed, much to the relief of his mother, Jeannie Luckey.

Capt. Christopher Parson, 31, and his co-pilot aboard a Super Cobra attack helicopter, came under heavy fire over Fallujah on Wednesday.

"He got hit. He lost his hydraulics, and once that happens you can't fly anymore," said Luckey, a Kalispell financial adviser. "He landed it safely, right side up, thank goodness, in a field close by."

Luckey said she heard a news account Thursday morning that two helicopters had been shot down, and she knew her son was involved in this week's U.S. offensive in Fallujah.

But she only had to worry for about an hour - until she got a call from her son's wife, Stephanie Parson.

"He called his wife [Thursday] morning because he knew we would be worried," Luckey said. "We knew he was involved in the fighting in Fallujah."

Parson told his wife that after the crash landing, he made a narrow escape from the enemy.

"Apparently, the insurgents came storming in pretty quickly," Luckey said.

But an escort gunship landed and picked up Parson and his co-pilot.

"As they were flying up and away, the insurgents came in and blew up his helicopter," Luckey said. "It was a very close call."

Luckey said her son is in his second tour in Iraq. Parson was involved in the invasion of Iraq, serving there from February to September 2003. He returned for his second tour on Aug. 1, 2004.

"He actually had a harrowing experience the last time," she said of Parson's first tour. "He wasn't shot down, but his buddies on another helicopter went down in a mine field. He had to be the escort that time."

Luckey said her son has "had a fair amount of experience at this point" and that she has had to "worry a long time" about him.

"When I heard [the news account], I thought it can't be Chris. I wake up every morning thinking about him. I'm almost afraid to turn on the news."

But Luckey, who grew up in a military family, is proud and supportive of her son, a Flathead High School graduate based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

"I can't begin to tell you how proud I am," she said. "I'm very supportive of the military and what they do. I don't think people appreciate them quite enough."

Luckey said her son will likely be grounded "for a few days" but he will eventually be back in action.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com