Archive image: A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60T Jayhawk Medium-Range Recovery Helicopter.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Scott Kellerman.
KODIAK, Alaska. — A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60T Jayhawk aircrew conducted the rescue of four boaters (a family of three adults and one child) from an 18-foot vessel trapped on an ice floe approximately 10 nautical miles west of Chefornak. Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Arctic District command center received a report at 4:24 p.m. Saturday from the Alaska State Troopers that a group of four people on a subsistence seal hunting expedition required assistance after being trapped on the ice for over 24 hours.
The hunting party freed the vessel from the ice overnight and attempted to reach a shore party which had come from the village with snow machines. However, moving ice prevented the vessel from reaching the shore party.
Coast Guard watchstanders directed the launch of both an MH-60T Jayhawk Medium-Range Recovery Helicopter aircrew and an HC-130J Super Hercules airplane aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak to conduct the long-range rescue (over 800 nautical miles) mission.
The family of four was on a seal hunting expedition and requested Coast Guard assistance Saturday after being trapped on the ice for over 24 hours and seeing no way out.
U.S. Coast Guard video.
U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak.
U.S. Coast Guard Arctic.
U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area.
The MH-60T Jayhawk MRR Helicopter aircrew arrived on scene at approximately 5 a.m. Sunday after making stops in both King Salmon and Bethel to refuel.
Once on the scene, the MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew deployed the rescue swimmer, safely hoisted the four boaters using a rescue basket and transported them back to the village of Chefornak with no reported injuries.
“Our entire crew agreed this was one of the most challenging missions any of us had ever flown,” said Lt. Cmdr. Alexis Chavarria-Aguilar, pilot-in-command for the MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter. “We battled nearly every Alaska-centric aviation weather hazard imaginable, such as flying over 800 miles in near-zero visibility through mountainous terrain, blowing snow and icing conditions. The teamwork was on full display during the recovery of the survivors. It was a long, difficult night, but I’m so proud of everyone involved who worked seamlessly together to bring four people home safely.”
The hunting party had three forms of communication on board, including satellite-based communications, which greatly enhanced the Coast Guard’s ability to locate and rescue them.
Weather on scene at the time of the rescue was: 28-degree air temperature, 29-mph winds, 800-foot cloud ceiling, and 9 nautical miles of visibility.
–USCG–
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