Rotor & Wing magazine is making the final selection of winners for the 40th Helicopter Heroism Awards, which will be announced Sept. 18, 2008 during its Search and Rescue Summit 2008 at the Sheraton in Reston, Virginia.

Rotor & Wing magazine is making the final selection of winners for the 40th Helicopter Heroism Awards, which will be announced Sept. 18, 2008 during its Search and Rescue Summit 2008 at the Sheraton in Reston, Virginia.

A panel of judges made up of distinguished search and rescue and helicopter professionals is reviewing the nominations for this year's awards, which will be presented during a luncheon at the summit.

The Rotor & Wing Search and Rescue Summit is a full-day conference for Search and Rescue (SAR) professionals from the public service, military and private sectors to provide unique perspectives and lessons learned from their SAR operations, and provides the venue for the luncheon ceremony honoring this year's award recipients. The Helicopter Heroism Award is the longest running and most respected such award in the rotorcraft industry. And in this 40th anniversary year, the ceremony will also honor the heroism exhibited throughout the various rotorcraft communities, with awards presented in the public service, military and private/corporate/commercial operations categories.

The summit will kick off with an opening session featuring presentations by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Chief of Catastrophic Planning, Michel Pawlowski, and panelists involved in search and rescue operations at the local, state and national level.

Randy Jones, publisher of Rotor & Wing magazine, comments "We are looking forward to hosting representatives from four continents at this event, including members of every branch of the US Military (Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines), US Coast Guard, US State Department, State Guard units, and local police/rescue/EMS organizations."

Corporate sponsors include Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture, and service, Goodrich Corporation, a global supplier of products, systems and aftermarket services to the aerospace, defense and homeland security markets, and Aviation Research Group/U.S., Inc (ARG/US), an industry leader in the specialized field of aviation information collection, analysis and distribution.

Scheduled speakers at the Search and Rescue Summit include: Michel Pawlowski, Chief, Catastrophic Planning, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency; Col. Barry D. Keeling, Commanding, Louisiana State Aviation Command; Cdr. Peter Mingo, Chief, Training Division, U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Training Center; and Trooper 2 Ty Mowry, New Jersey State Police, Chairman of the Eastern Region Helicopter Council's Helicopter Emergency Response Program.

For more information or to register for the event, or to become a sponsor, please visit www.SearchandRescueSummit.com.