Durangoans wondering about a helicopter flying low over town Monday night need wonder no more.

“It was us,” said Dan Bender of the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office. “Every month, (La Plata County) Search and Rescue does a training, and Monday’s was helicopter (landing zones).”

The volunteers learned safety measures in approaching a helicopter; the minimum distances in terms of width and breadth a copter needs to land safely; how to signal a helicopter into a landing zone and what channels to use; and what kinds of obstacles a helicopter needs to avoid, such as power lines, and how to indicate those to the pilot, Bender said.

Tristate Care Flight provided the helicopter and crew for the exercise.

“Search and Rescue used a helicopter as recently as last week to try to find the man missing in the Animas (River),” Bender said.

Cody Shane Pierce, 20, jumped into the Upper Animas to cool off Thursday evening. Search and Rescue began looking for his body that night and performed a full-scale search Friday, Saturday and Sunday, using the helicopter, K-9 units and volunteers in rafts and kayaks from the Tank Creek drainage all the way down to Trimble Bridge.

The search was scaled back by Tuesday, Bender said.

“We’re still observing the river daily,” he said. “In the Upper Animas, we have 10 to 15 rafters and kayakers navigating the area we’re interested in, and they’re aware he’s still missing and we’re looking for him.”

abutler@ durangoherald.com