A fundraising effort for a new ALERT helicopter is getting off the ground.

With $3.5 million already set aside for the estimated $5.5 million Bell 429 helicopter, organizers are seeking the remaining $2 million from the community. Logan Health Foundation President Michael Barth described the forthcoming rotorcraft, manufactured by Bell Helicopter, as a gamechanger for the air ambulance service  

ALERT has been providing lifesaving medical transportation in the region for 50 years. Foundation and program staff unveiled the effort to buy a new helicopter at the ALERT Banquet, the service’s annual fundraiser, in late April. 

Money raised at the record-breaking 2026 iteration of the banquet, which came in at more than $750,000, has been put toward the purchase. Barth described the evening as a “wonderful illustration of community support.” 

“People at the banquet really responded to our message that we're ready to make the next step in the evolution of the program through the acquisition of this new helicopter, which will greatly enhance our capabilities and enable us to serve the communities in a better fashion than we're able to do now,” Barth said.  

The service currently has two Bell 407 helicopters in its fleet, which serve a roughly 350-mile radius around Kalispell from Cut Bank to Libby and Eureka. ALERT also boasts a fixed-wing airplane, a Pilatus PC-12, that provides transport beyond the range of the helicopters to specialty resource centers across the United States and in Canada.  

Barth said the Bell 429 sports two engines, which increases reliability and provides an extra margin of safety as pilots navigate the region’s mountainous terrain. 

Perhaps one of the biggest upgrades will be felt in the cabin size of the rotorcraft. Barth said the Bell 407 helicopters lack the space for the flight nurse and crew to work on a patient while aloft, which will change with the Bell 429.  

“The flight crew and flight nurse will be able to work on the patient while we're in flight. So we've got a greater ability to treat the patient during that critical transport time from wherever that patient was to the hospital,” Barth said. “That's a very key benefit. Because of that space, we're able to load the patient more quickly into the helicopter, work on them in flight and get them to the medical center here in Kalispell.” 

The extra space also provides a measure of comfort. Although ALERT's fixed-wing airplane has space for one family member to accompany a patient, the Bell 407s are too small to accommodate another passenger. By contrast, the Bell 429 will boast enough room for a relative to travel with the patient, Barth said. 

When snowmobiler Tom Swanecamp, whose story was featured at the April ALERT banquet, was airlifted by air ambulance service after an accident near Olney over the winter, his girlfriend had to stay behind. She wasn’t able to join him in the hospital in Kalispell until hours later. 

Barth said if ALERT had a Bell 429, she could have flown with him and wouldn’t have had to wait to learn about his condition. The additional passenger space will also make a difference for parents of airlifted children, he added.  

"If you think about what it must be like to see a loved one fly away, let alone see your child fly away, in a helicopter with that uncertainty — you just want to be there, right? This will enable us to do that,” he said.  

Once the Bell 429 is purchased, it will become ALERT's primary helicopter, while a remaining Bell 407 becomes the new backup option, according to Barth. The service’s second Bell 407 will be traded in to defray the cost of the new helicopter. 

To learn more, visit logan.org/services/emergency-services/a-l-e-r-t-program/.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4440 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.