Archive image: An UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew from the 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the Tennessee National Guard conducts a casualty hoist exercise as part of the SAREX 23 in Pickett State Park near Jamestown, TN Jan. 7, 2023.
The aircrews conducted two hoist practices with other state agencies to be prepared in the event of actual emergency situations in the future.
U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Ben Cash.
LOUISVILLE, Tenn. – A Tennessee Army National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk aircrew based at Joint Base McGhee-Tyson conducted the rescue of an injured hiker in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. March 22, 2025.
Shortly after 5:30 p.m. Eastern time, the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified an injured hiker needed medical assistance and rapid transport to a nearby hospital. The hiker was in a remote park area along a hiking trail near the Ramsey Cascades waterfall east of Gatlinburg.
Tennessee Army National Guard members assembled a flight crew and readied a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter for flight. After the mission was approved, the aircraft departed Joint Base McGhee-Tyson at about 7:20 p.m., flying directly to the rescue hoisting site determined by Park Service Rangers, who were attending to the hiker.
The Tennessee Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk aircrew included two pilots, Capt. Andrew Rines and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Brasfield, crew chief Sgt. Christopher Burke, and flight paramedics, Sgts. 1st Class John Sharbel and Giovanni Dezuani.
The rescue aircrew located the hiker and park rangers, who were rendering first aid.
At roughly 7:45 p.m., Burke lowered Sharbel and Dezuani to the ground by hoist to do a quick medical assessment and prepare the hiker for transport. The hiker and paramedics were hoisted into the UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter, which flew to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., the aircraft landed at the medical center and medical personnel rushed the patient into the emergency room. Once the patient was safely in the care of medical professionals, the rescue helicopter returned to Louisville and landed just before 9 p.m.
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