40th Helicopter Squadron crew records 371st save

  • Published
  • By Valerie Mullett
  • 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  A UH-1N "Huey" crew from the 40th Helicopter Squadron recorded the unit's 371st save when they rescued a man who was involved in a rafting incident on the Dearborn River May 25. 

The man and two other people on his raft were part of an eight-person, two watercraft party. Their raft hit a rock and capsized approximately a mile and a half into the two-mile trip. The second group made it safely to their destination and called for help. One of the rafters drowned, the other is still missing. 

"We received a request for support from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at 9:15 p.m. May 25 and the aircraft launched at 10:24 p.m.," said Lt. Col. Ronald Tewksbury, 40th Helicopter Squadron director of operations. 

The weather at take off was "okay," he said, with three to four miles of visibility, but it deteriorated over the course of the mission. 

"At the pick up location, the mountain tops were obscured with clouds and we had a 500' to 600' ceiling with visibility reduced to two to three miles and intermittent rain showers," the colonel said. 

Even with the use of night vision goggles, the thick cloud cover made the rescue difficult. 

The man was also located on the side of the river that had steep rock cliffs -200 to 240 feet tall. 

"The crew considered attempting a hoist recovey, but degraded visibility due to darkness and weather, the depth of the canyon and the presence of a boat in the area made them decide against this fairly dangerous extraction," Colonel Tewksbury said. 

Instead, the boat in the area retrieved the man and got him to the other shore of the river where the helicopter crew was able to get him out and fly him to the Great Falls airport. There was no ground access to the rescue location. 

That crew was made up of Capt. Phil Bryant, aircraft commander; 1st Lt. David Nelson, pilot; Tech. Sgt. Ethan Masslow, flight engineer; and Lt. Col. Marcel Dionne, flight surgeon. 

The following day, a second crew was called out to assist in the search for the two other missing rafters. 

"They searched the river and the surrounding terrain for approximately five hours," Colonel Tewksbury said. "They located the second individual, the female who had drowned, and relayed the position to the ground search party." 

Members of the Lewis and Clark, and Cascade County Search and Rescue teams, Cascade County Sheriff's Department, Montana Highway Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, and Wolfe Creek and Dearborn Fire Departments were also on the scene.

The search is still underway for the third individual. 

"The operation is primarily a recovery operation at this point and the 40th Helicopter Squadron discontinued operations at 5:25 p.m. May 27," Colonel Tewksbury said. 

The second crew was made up of Capt. James McCue, aircraft commander; 1st Lt. John Parrish, pilot; Staff Sgt. Michael France and Airman 1st Class Kyle Meck, flight engineers; and Capt. David Oettel, flight surgeon. 

The squadron's last save was Aug. 20, 2007, when a crew located a lost 81-year-old man north of the Highwood Mountains and vectored his location to ground rescue crews. Due to low fuel, the aircraft was unable to make the rescue itself.