"I marvel at the accomplishment of flight. The human body isn't designed to fly through the air and somehow we found a way to do that. Flying is a massive privilege. Anyone who gets to fly should take it very seriously."
Stu Sprung is a commercially rated helicopter, air & seaplane pilot based out of San Diego, California. He has flown the world to almost 40 countries in a variety of aircraft.
Before becoming a pilot, Stu worked as a firefighter/paramedic for the San Francisco Fire Department, and as a flight medic for the US Department of Homeland Security's FEMA. As a result of almost two decades of public service he responded to thousands of federal, state and local emergencies in the US, including the World Trade Center attack on 9/11 and the 1996 Olympic bombing in Atlanta.
A tragic on-duty accident brought Stu's fire service career to a halt, and after a long rehabilitation and recovery he opted to pursue a career following in his grandfather's footsteps as a pilot. His grandfather was the famous Dr. Jack Pickup, British Columbia's Flying Doctor. He was the first pilot to navigate and map the route for seaplane pilots across the entire Canadian airspace, and his Canadian pilot license that he carried to the day he died was handwritten and was issued as #4.
In an effort to share some of his experiences with other pilots, Stu also speaks to aviation enthusiasts about aviation survival and medical emergencies. Growing up in British Columbia, Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador gave him experience and an appreciation for the wilderness. His background in the fire department, as well as being a paramedic and CPR instructor, helps provide pilots with the tools they need to survive should they ever find themselves in an emergency far from help.
Currently, Stu flies a Falcon 10 jet for a private company, a PAC 750XL turboprop for a skydiving operation, and continues to fly the helicopter for the factory Honda Racing Team in the SCORE Baja 1000 & 500 off-road races.
