Allegiant Air pilot, attendant visit with awards for heroism

The members of Boy Scouts of America Troop 48 in Sedona weren’t surprised when one of their leaders showed a news clip about an emergency landing of a plane 10 troop members were on July 25.

After all, the Tuesday, Sept. 21, meeting of the troop was an awards ceremony honoring the boys’ accomplishment. Many received pins, ribbons and merit badges.

What did surprise them was the introduction of the Allegiant Air pilot Capt. Ana Vindas and second flight attendant Arlene Parker after the news clip finished.

Only one person in the troop knew the two women were coming. They attended the meeting to commend the Scouts in person and give them awards not only from Allegiant Air but the Federal Aviation Administration.

On July 25, the boys were traveling from Billings, Mont., to a Mesa airport when Vindas announced she had to take the airplane down in Flagstaff because one of the engines had shut down. The boys were on their way home from Island Park Boy Scout Camp in Idaho where they learned emergency and first aid skills.

In the news clip Vindas told news crews she was fortunate to have Boy Scout Troop 48 on board. Troup member Paul Zenovitch said the Boy Scouts train for emergency situations.

“We did what we were trained to do,” he said on the news clip.

Before the Sept. 21 meeting, Vindas said she heard that as soon as she raised the alert the Scouts jumped into action.

“They were asking the flight attendants how they could help. Once on the ground they went to work helping with the evacuation and assisted with first-aid,” Vindas said. “They were excellent. They’re
a really good group of boys.”

Parker said she was not surprised at the boys’ performance “…because they’re Boy Scouts. ‘Be prepared’ is their motto. At one point, we had to tell them to let the paramedics take over they were so intent on what they were doing.”

When introduced, Vindas and Parker walked to the front of the meeting to a standing, very loud ovation.
“It was with the assistance of your troop that I was able to successfully evacuate the back of the plane. You handled yourselves in a heroic manner,” Parker said.

Each Scout and leader who was on the flight received a model of the airplane and a personalized letter from Maurice J. Gallagher Jr., Allegiant Air CEO, along with a flight certificate.

They also received a personalized placard and coin from the FAA.

“It was definitely an honor to be recognized for what we did. It’s not an event that happens every day. To know I helped save that many people gives me a good feeling,” Jason Lionberger said. He has been in Boy Scouts for 10 years.

Kevin Schweiss said getting an award was awesome. It was a shock when the incident happened, but it turned out to actually be fun.

“I was shaking. The plane could have crashed, but we knew what we needed to do and did it for the sake of other people,” Schweiss said.

The first thought on Zenovitch’s mind when he heard the announcement on the plane was about how flying was the safest way to travel.

“My second thought was to see the boys got out quickly and safely. I was the senior patrol leader at the time,” Zenovitch said.

“When they showed up with the awards tonight, I was surprised. I thought we might get some recognition, but I didn’t think it would be this big.”