
Units with Air and Marine Operations and Office of Field Operations teamed up with the Civil Air Patrol to practice an air-to-air intercept using two AMO UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and two C-550 Citation jets to track down a simulated incursion into restricted airspace.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Photo by Glenn Fawcett.
TUCSON, Ariz. — CBP-AMO (Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations) UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew rescue two migrants in the Baboquivari Mountains.
At approximately 2:00p.m. on Thursday afternoon the U.S. Border Patrol’s Arizona Air Coordination Center received a call at approximately 2:25 p.m. routed through Tohono O’odham Police Dispatch, that two migrants were in distress and in need of medical aid in a remote area of the Baboquivari Mountains. The male and female Guatemalan nationals had been in the desert for several days, were out of water and could not walk any further.
A2C2 was able to use the smartphone application WhatsApp to develop their location. At approximately 4 p.m. Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) was activated to perform a rescue and render aid, due to the subjects’ location in arduous and dangerous terrain.
A UH-60 Black Hawk crew launched from the Tucson Air Branch and arrived on scene around 7 p.m.; and the aircrew located the migrants, deep in the Baboquivari wilderness. The crew inserted two AMO Rescue Specialist from approximately 130’ above the ground. After completing the assessment of the migrants, they were secured in air rescue vests and helmets and hoisted from a higher altitude of 220 feet to reduce the effects of rotor wash.
A male and female married couple with back and leg injuries had been without food or water for several days. A Tucson-based UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew responded to the request.
Two AMO Rescue Specialists were inserted into the side of the mountain for medical assessment and extraction. The patients were transported to a nearby town and transferred to Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue agents.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations video.
The migrants were transported to a baseball field at the nearby town of Three Points, AZ. where they were transferred to waiting BORSTAR agents at the Veterans Memorial Park and treated for dehydration and blisters on their feet.
“While our aircraft fleet is equipped with the latest in technology necessary to perform rescues such as this,” said Director of Air Operations, Tucson Air Branch, Michael Montgomery. “We must always remember the risks associated with these kinds of missions.”
For more Hlcopters Magazine breaking news, stories, images and videos follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.