Greg Biffle’s invitation to what’s become a sweeping emergency response came casually on an otherwise quiet Saturday at his shop: “Hey, do you want to fly today?” A friend had sent the request through Facebook,

In Biffle’s rescue footage, he swoops down toward some of Helene’s victims who stand in a remote clearing amidst a forest’s-worth of trees desperate for help from above.

The Vancouver, Wash. native has been using his personal helicopter to deliver supplies to remote communities in western North Carolina ravaged by the hurricane.