Cory Leahy began his flying career 13 years ago in the Rocky Mountains between Lake Louise and Jasper. Flying sightseeing tours over the glaciers and Icefields from bases along the Icefields Parkway and Canmore Alberta in a Bell 206. From there he moved on to general charter and Wildfire operations work throughout Alberta. Initially based in the Fort McMurray region, his first exposure to Wildfire ops, was flying fire boss and admin on a medium-sized campaign fire in a light helicopter just South of Fort McMurray. Over the next 7 years, he gained experience in all facets of Wildfire fighting and prevention, including flying Initial Attack, Helco, Bucketing, Heavy equipment groups, Aerial ignition, and IR scanning/mapping. Gaining exposure to everything from small IA fires, all the way up to large 20+ machine complex fires. His tenure in Alberta included tours from Fort Chip, down through the Grande Prairie, Ft Mac. and Lac Le Biche regions. He was a part of the large Cold Lake weapons range complex fire and has worked as far South as Rocky Mountain house and Lethbridge.

With experience on everything from light and intermediate helicopters, right up through medium and heavy lift sized machines, Cory brings a wealth of knowledge on varying types and capabilities. In 2016 Cory began flying 2 crew IFR, and in 2018 received his initial NVG certification. Since then, he’s flown extensively at night on both ANVIS-6 (green) and ANVIS-9 (white phosphorus) Night vision Imaging systems, progressing to Advanced NVG status. This recent 2 crew IFR and NVG experience have provided him with knowledge and insights critical for the safe implementation of Nighttime Firefighting operations that many provinces are considering. He’s currently trained on Pilot Decision Making, Crew Resource Management, Safety Management systems, TDG Air, and WHMIS with a Canadian ATPL and Current 2 crew IFR PPC and Class 1 Medical Certificate.