Helicopter Squadron completes 384th successful rescue

  • Published
  • By Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  The Air Force Global Strike Command's 40th Helicopter Squadron braved low visibility and rough terrain to successfully accomplish their 384th rescue.

Aircraft commander/pilot for the rescue was Capt. Matthew Sutliff. Also in the crew was Capt. Erik Greendyke, co-pilot; Staff Sgt. Kyle Meck, flight engineer; and Dr. (Maj.) Glenn Donnelly, flight surgeon.

The 40th HS was notified of a possible search and rescue mission at around 9:45 p.m. July 29. A 50-year-old woman was thrown from her horse and sustained back injuries in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, south of Livingston. A search and rescue request went to the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center for support approval.

After the request met approval, the crew flew one hour and 20 minutes to the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness where a ground party had already found the survivor and set up a signal fire for the aircraft. They were located in a mountain valley with a 25-foot clearing surrounded by trees 100 feet tall.

After carefully positioning the aircraft, Dr. Donnelly, along with a stokes litter, was hoisted down to the woman to be extracted. Due to a hoist malfunction, only the survivor could be hoisted back up into the aircraft, so Dr. Donnelly was left at the site to hike out with the ground party.

"The two-hour hike to the trailhead enhanced my appreciation for the outstanding work that this crew did in locating and stabilizing the survivor," Donnelly said. "I appreciated getting to know them a little on the hike and chalked this up as another exciting adventure that had made my career in the Air Force more interesting and rewarding that I ever could have imagined."

Due to the time of the rescue and location of the survivor, each hoist - insertion and extraction - was performed using night-vision goggles at 200 feet above ground level.
"I remember the crew being incredibly focused," Sutliff said. "We all knew this wasn't a training flight; it was the real deal and that woman was counting on us to be 100 percent."

About 30 minutes after the crew arrived on scene, the woman was extracted - at around 1:10 a.m. From there, the crew proceeded to Livingston hospital where they landed the aircraft and the survivor was released to medical personnel. Due to Dr. Donnelly having to hike out with the ground party, the rest of the crew stayed put overnight so they could pick him up the next day; they returned to Malmstrom around 5 p.m. July 30.

"This is something that we have trained for since day one of flying helicopters," Greendyke said. "It was just really rewarding to see the relief on the survivors face when she realized that the good guys were here and the worst was over."