It's been one year since Helene devastated parts of the region in Western North Carolina and some of the first eyes-in-the-sky are reflecting on the devastation that followed. Without cell service and washed-out roads, hundreds of people were left stranded in the mountains. Al Mattress, a helicopter pilot with a commercial flight company, Total Flight Solutions, said he received an early morning call from one of the company's clients. The client asked them to check on a family member in western North Carolina. Mattress says he got up in the air as quickly as he could. He was one of the first to





























