Two Bear Air pilot shares his story

Jim Bob Pierce knows what it’s like to be alone.

“Everyone knows what it feels like to be alone,” said Pierce, the main pilot for Two Bear Air, a private search-and-rescue operation. “Surrounded by thousands of people and still all alone, like a child lost in a mall, we can all relate to that.”

He is recalling the time he was involved in an avalanche on New Year’s Day in 1994. Pierce and 13 others were snowmobiling around Peter’s Ridge in the Swan Range when seven members of their group were swept up in an avalanche. Five people, including a child, died.

Pierce was not caught in the avalanche, so he became one of the first responders. To this day, he strongly empathizes with both those who are caught and in need of help and with those who take on personal risk in order to help.

“It’s the most helpless feeling in the world when you are not prepared, and you don’t know if help is coming, and people are missing. It’s very lonely,” said Pierce. “I still remember how I felt when the first search-and-rescue guy got on scene. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders because help had arrived. They get there, and inside you know it might not turn out the way you want, but at least you are no longer alone.”

Now Pierce is one of those arriving on scene in Two Bear’s helicopter and helping to ease the burdens of others.

PIerce, 51, has been an airplane pilot since 1999 and a helicopter pilot for nine years.

Pierce has accumulated 5,100 flying hours in helicopters. He said there are a lot of pilots with more hours than him, but he has gained a lot of hours in a relatively short time.

“Think of an EMS pilot, if they get 100 hours of flying hours a year, that’s a lot. Sometimes I put in 500 hours a year,” said Pierce.

Pierce didn’t have a lifelong dream of becoming a pilot.

He said that one time when he was on vacation in Phoenix, he randomly picked up a plane and pilot magazine. He called up his wife, Serena (they’ve been married 25 years now), and told her he wanted to get his pilot’s license.  

“By the time I got home I had it all lined up and two months later, I had my license,” said Pierce. “I’m an all or nothing kind of guy,” I don’t do things halfway.”

Pierce decided to get his helicopter license similarly by chance. On a snowmobiling trip in Canada, Pierce rented a helicopter to search for fresh powder. He really enjoyed flying over the snow-covered peaks in the helicopter. Once again, Serena got a call and another license was in his future.

In 2008 Pierce purchased Red Eagle Aviation. He smiles as he remembers talking with Serena about whether or not he should buy the business. He remembers his wife’s quick humor as she told him he might as well buy it since he had spent enough money there.

Although he still owns the business, he has stepped back from that to focus on his role with Two Bear Air.

“The Two Bear program is a full-time commitment with all the training and implementing we have going on here,” said Pierce. “I couldn’t give one hundred percent both places. I had to make a choice and I really believe in the mission here.”

Some people have told Pierce that he must get accustomed to flying and reach a point where he’s simply used to it and it’s not such a thrill.

“The day I take this for granted is the day I deserve not to fly anymore,” Pierce said.

“The reason I do so well at what I do is because of my passion,” he said. “I’m very passionate about how I got here, and why we are doing what we are doing. If you are passionate about something it’s easy. It’s simple and rewarding. How blessed am I to do what I’m doing and to be able to partner with someone like Mike [Goguen] who has given us the resources to do this. What an incredible gift! I don’t take any of this lightly.”

Goguen, a Whitefish philanthropist, provides funding for Two Bear Air.

According to Pierce, Two Bear’s Bell 429 helicopter, which has cutting-edge technology (including a thermal imaging and mapping system) and hoisting capability, flew 140 missions in 2014 plus countless training exercises.

“I could care less if anyone knows who I am,” said Pierce. “But I remember that lost feeling. If we can save one person, then all of this is worthwhile. That means the world to me.”

Photographer Brenda Ahearn can be reached at 758-4435 or bahearn@dailyinterlake.com.