Rescue Airmen of 176th Wing’s 210th, 211th, and 212th Rescue Squadrons rescued the goat hunter near Haines Oct. 4.
On the image the HH-60G flies over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, while conducting a training operation Oct. 2, 2024.
Alaska National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña.
Story by David Bedard, 176th Wing
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — An Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aircrew of 176th Wing rescue an injured hunter about 15 nautical miles northwest of Haines.
The mission started when the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center (AKRCC) received a request for assistance from the Alaska State Troopers following a report of a goat hunter who was injured when he fell down a steep cliff.
The AKRCC requested assistance from the 176th Wing, and the 176th Operations Group search and rescue duty officer promptly dispatched a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter and a 211th Rescue Squadron HC-130J Combat King II, both with 212th Rescue Squadron Guardian Angel pararescuemen (PJs) on board.
Alaska Air National Guard Lt. Col. Gavin Johnson, 210th RQS HH-60G Pave Hawk pilot and aircraft commander, said the mission required detailed mission planning because of the remote distances of Southeast Alaska.
“Once we got into the squadron (upon alert), we took a minute to look at routing, fuel, and weather,” Johnson said. “Weather was the primary concern with some bad weather already there, and it was forecasted to get worse along the coastline.”
Alaska’s complex terrain often requires helicopter pilots to negotiate mountain passes, valleys and basins to get to their destination.
“We came up with a good gameplan to fly out past Chickaloon down the Copper River Basin and then down the coastline to the incident site,” Johnson said.
The HC-130J Combat King II, callsign “King,” in addition to providing high-altitude/high-speed search, weather reconnaissance, and communications retransmission, also air-to-air refuels the HH-60G Pave Hawk, callsign “Jolly,” to extend the helicopter’s range for long-distance missions.
“The flight out there was relatively uneventful,” Johnson said. “King was able to pass us gas, and they were able to push ahead and locate the survivor’s position and establish communications with (the hunting party) and get an initial picture of what things looked like on scene.”
Johnson said two civilian ground medics hiked to the injured hunter. Though they provided initial medical care, they were unable to extract him due to the rugged terrain.
The HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter had to refuel one more time before reaching the landing zone.
“We grabbed another tank of gas from King near Yakutat while we were southbound, and we got on scene we assessed the area and assessed the LZ,” Johnson said. “Our PJ team lead (Staff Sgt. Micah McKinnis) came up with an insertion plan to offset from the survivor to infiltrate the PJ team. We didn’t want to hover over the patient and the medical team there.”
The PJs, with a Stokes Litter, hoisted to the ground, hiked to the patient’s location, packaged him in the litter, and hoisted him into the HH-60G helicopter along with the two medics before dropping them off at Haines Road nearby.
The Pave Hawk helicopter landed in Yakutat about 150 nautical miles northwest of Haines, and the PJs transloaded the patient to the HC-130J for fast transport to JBER. An ambulance met King at JBER and transported the hunter to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.
For more Hlcopters Magazine breaking news, stories, images and videos visit hlcopters.com and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
