Nomination for 2014 Lee President’s Award for Spirit

Larry MayerChief Photographer, Billings Gazette Communications

F8 and Be There “Years ago, Kodak had a great ad campaign,” recalls Larry Mayer, chief photographer for The Billings Gazette. “The ad featured a box of press film in the background with the slogan ‘F8 and Be There.’” According to Mayer, anyone who was a photojournalist understood the message. “F8 was the aperture setting for using a 1/1000th of a second exposure – the standard for film photography, ‘And Be There,’ well, that meant you had to be first in the moment,” he finished. That axiom has been at the root of Mayer’s 37 years as an award-winning photographer. Modest, with a quick wit and cat-like demeanor, Mayer’s photographs span the gauntlet from youngsters on their first day of kindergarten to grisly crime scenes, and explosions to educational summits. But it’s his uncanny ability to “Be There” in the moment that sets him apart. “One of the things I have always done is listen to the police scanner and respond to breaking news at all hours of the day or night,” Mayer said. On average, Mayer estimates he responds two to three nights a week to some news event, noting that the scanner sits on his night stand. “In my mind, it’s part of the newspaper’s core mission to cover the news the best we can and get it to our readers as quickly as we can.”

Because of his dedication, Mayer has witnessed nearly every large news event that has ever happened in Billings – and many in the vast, surrounding region.

Getting there The Billings Gazette circulation area is geographically huge, spanning more than 90,000 square miles, including all of eastern Montana and northern Wyoming. Within this large area are many rural communities where breaking news often takes place.

In order to reach the outer regions of The Gazette circulation area more quickly, Mayer got his private pilot’s license in 1979. “I saw it as a useful tool,” he said.

SUMMARY For more than 37 years, Larry Mayer has been an eyewitness to history. As Chief Photographer for The Billings Gazette, Mayer

is often one of the first people on the scene at a major news event.

Mayer’s determination to cover breaking news events anywhere they take place within the Gazette’s 90,000 square mile

circulation footprint – much of it remote and rural – was a major factor in his decision to become a licensed pilot in 1979.

Today, Mayer is regarded as a leader in the local aviation community. He has flown numerous search and rescue operations,

many occurring over some of the most rugged terrain on the continent.

Mayer’s commitment to breaking news and his expertise as a seasoned pilot collided on August 20, 2013. A young student

pilot on her first cross-country solo flight was reported missing. With daylight fading, Mayer made two phone calls and within

30 minutes nine pilots, including Mayer, were in the air conducting a coordinated search effort. What took place over the next

few hours would not only make the front pages of The Billings Gazette, but this extraordinary story would be beamed into homes

across the nation as a segment on NBC’s Dateline titled: Into The Wild.

This aerial photograph of the Big Horn Canyon shows the rugged mountainous terrain that covers much of Montana and Wyoming. Photo by Larry Mayer.

In the years following, Mayer became heavily involved in the aviation community. He served as the secretary/treasurer of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and coordinator of the Young Eagles program, both organizations working to get kids interested in aviation. He also helped boy scouts earn merit badges for aviation and photography. As a seasoned pilot, Mayer also experienced the darker side of aviation, taking part in official searches for missing aircraft. “Most times, they don’t end well for the people on board,” Mayer said.

A desperate search Around 5 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2013, Mayer had just finished his final assignment for The Gazette when he received a phone call from a flight instructor friend. Her student, 17-year-old McKenzie Morgan, had taken off on her first cross-country solo flight. But something had gone wrong; McKenzie was missing. “I told the instructor I would make some phone calls and talk to her on 12275,” Mayer recalled. The call numbers 12275 refer to a local frequency pilots use to communicate. Mayer was very concerned. The route the young pilot was following traversed some of the most rugged terrain in the lower forty-eight. Home to grizzly bears, mountain lions and freezing nighttime temperatures, it was an unforgiving land. Years earlier, Mayer had combed the same mountainous terrain searching for downed helicopter. Spotting the wreckage and two survivors, Mayer tossed a survival bag containing a sleeping bag and radio to the stranded men before radioing their position to rescue crews. Recalling that incident, Mayer made two phone calls, and then quickly assembled an emergency bag that he could toss out of this aircraft down to McKenzie. Inside there was a sleeping bag, food, water, a flashlight, matches, a radio – and a large caliber handgun. “I knew the route she was over, it was grizzly country,” he said. By the time Mayer assembled the bag and got to the airport, his two phone calls resulted in nine other airplanes joining the search. But time was of the essence. Once the sun set, pilots would be forced to abandon their search until morning. If McKenzie Morgan was alive, freezing nighttime temperatures and aggressive wildlife made the possibility of her surviving the night dim.

Mountain miracle As sunset approached, the pilots continued painstakingly combing the vast expanse of wilderness. Suddenly Mayer spotted some burned wreckage, but a closer pass revealed it was the wreckage of an aircraft which had crashed a few years before. “I recalled photographing it right after it crashed. Still, it was shocking to see,” he said. Unbeknownst to the pilots, two hunters on a scouting expedition for Big Horn sheep were riding horses in the backcountry wilderness. Much to their surprise, they saw the airplane flying dangerously low in the canyon and watched helplessly as the wind caught

Airplanes are lined up waiting for riders during the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 57’s Young Eagles Day. Photo by Larry Mayer.

Search planes seeking McKenzie Morgan’s wreakage. Photo by Larry Mayer.

a wing and thrust the plane upside down smashing it into a steep rocky slope.

One of the hunters returned to the trailhead to call for help. The other slowly made his way down a steep, narrow trail toward the crash. Approaching the crash site cautiously, the hunter was stunned to see McKenzie Morgan limping toward him. Miraculously, against tremendous odds, the young pilot had survived.

Not over yetWith only a few cuts and

bruises and a sprained knee, McKenzie Morgan was reunited with her parents later that evening in Cody, Wyo. The next day, her remarkable story made the front page of The Billings Gazette.

But the harrowing tale of the young pilot who got lost, and the community of seasoned pilots who immediately began a coordinated search effort against all odds to find her, reached far beyond the Montana state line. Correspondents with Dateline NBC, headquartered in New York City, also heard the story. One of them approached Larry Mayer, saying they were told that, “Larry is the guy who takes action and gets things rolling,” and asked if Larry would take part in the interview. Larry agreed. “Over the past 37 years I’ve been part of so many news events… but this one, this one rises to the top,” Mayer said. “I will never forget the feeling of dread that I felt for McKenzie Morgan when I heard where she was missing. There was so much potential for her to die or get killed after she went down,” he recalls. Mayer smiles as he reflects on a career which has spanned nearly four decades, yet he is quick to say he’s nowhere near the end. “Retirement? That’s not in my lexicon.”

Larry being interviewed by the NBC Dateline crew in the hangar where his plane is stored.

To view a clip Larry Mayer’s segment of the dateline interview click here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_DS0fYjWIc

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Wilderness Magazine

In addition to being the Chief Photographer at Billings Gazette Communications, Larry Mayer has been a contributing photographer to hundreds of publications, including these listed below. Find out more at www.larrymayer.com

Photos of the Cessna at the crash site taken by survivor McKenzie Morgan. Photo of McKenzie taken by Larry as she gives details of the crash