After locals sighted multiple helicopters Thursday, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that three helicopters flew through Durango airspace – on unrelated business.

According to Dan Bender, spokesman with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, the helicopters passed through Durango within about 15 minutes of each other.

The first chopper to pass was an Army helicopter, a CH-47 Chinook, a twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter.

About five minutes later, a medical helicopter flew from Durango to Farmington, Bender said.

The third helicopter belongs to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico.

“This one may have gotten more attention,” Bender said.

The chopper looped around Durango, then landed in the open field behind the La Plata County jail in Bodo Industrial Park, where it will be used as part of a 40-hour SWAT training course for law-enforcement agents working in the Four Corners.

The idea of the training, Bender said, is to introduce trainees to 28 different fundamentals of special weapons and tactics by throwing them into an intense crash course.

It’s the 15th year the class has been taught, and it’s always taught around this time of year, Bender said.

“It’s for entry-level SWAT training,” Bender said.

While Durango is hosting this year’s training, he said it’s drawing students from several county sheriff’s offices, as well as state and federal law officers.

Instructors will deploy the helicopter to “give students who are going through the SWAT training lessons, like how to safely operate a landing zone and how to communicate with the helicopter,” Bender said.

cmcallister@durangoherald.com