Army wants North Cascades training area for pilots

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. Army is proposing to train helicopter pilots on U.S. Forest Service lands in an area over the North Cascades in Washington state.

The Seattle Times says aviation officials at Joint Base Lewis-McChord want to create seven remote landing zones so helicopter pilots can practice flyovers and high-altitude landings. Army officials say it would help pilots prepare to operate in high-altitude areas such as Afghanistan.

The training area would extend over an aerial space largely east of the Cascades from around Leavenworth up to the Canadian border.

The Army told the newspaper that the helicopter unit would make up to 75 practice landings in a given month.

The new proposal is outline in a scoping document. It would also include three low-elevation training areas in Southwest Washington.