40th HS now one shy of 400 rescues

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  A crew with Malmstrom's 40th Helicopter Squadron recorded the unit's 399th save after rescuing an injured hiker near Whitehall, Montana on May 18.

The crew consisted of Capt. Josh Hallford, aircraft commander/pilot; 1st Lt. Greg Johnston, co-pilot; and Flight Engineers Tech. Sgt. Michelle Bresson and Staff Sgt. J. Ryan Oliver. The four members of "Air Force Rescue 22" departed from base at 6:35 a.m. and arrived at the location in just over an hour.

A 23-year-old man was hiking on Doherty Mountain when he fell nearly 30 feet and broke his ankle the evening prior to the rescue. Three Whitehall emergency services individuals hiked to the survivor and camped overnight, stabilizing the hiker until the helicopter - equipped with a hoist capability - was able to meet them at an extraction point.

"It only took us about five minutes to find him because we had people on the ground to talk to us," Hallford said. "Communication has to be close especially when it's a pretty decent hike to get there because we only have so much fuel. If we have people to talk to, we're less likely to run out of fuel."

"This was probably the best [ground] team I've worked with," Bresson added. "As soon as they saw us fly overhead they were able to make communication with us and vector us to the location. They were very professional and had him wrapped up and ready to go."

After arriving on scene, Oliver lowered Bresson on the hoist to assess the situation.

"We did about a 75- to 80-foot hoist - the pilots themselves had trees and the cliff face about 15 feet right off the nose of the aircraft," Bresson said. "I can definitely see why he fell - I had to hike 10 or 15 feet up to him. Because of his ankle, he wasn't able to get away from where he was at, so as he was being hoisted up, I had to sort of guide him up so he didn't hit the base of the cliff."

According to Hallford, the survivor was in a location surrounded by rocks, trees and bushes, and because of the rough terrain, Oliver had to maneuver the hoist precisely so it didn't get tangled. After lowering Bresson, the crew extracted the survivor, did a circle around the location to safely secure him and then returned to extract Bresson - a process that only took 30 minutes.

"It felt good to be able to be lowered down and allow a newer engineer the opportunity to gain experience during a basically textbook search and rescue," Bresson said. "When I got down there [the ground team] had him laying down in a sleeping bag - he was probably in shock. As I worked to get him out of the sleeping bag and onto the hoist... he looked like he was absolutely miserable. I explained to him what to expect, what the other flight engineer would be doing and then after they got him in the aircraft they took off. Once I got back into the aircraft, he looked like he was in better spirits and there was a look of relief on his face - he was definitely happy to be out of that situation."

Following the extraction, the crew flew the man to St. James hospital in Butte, Montana, refueled and then headed back to base - landing safely at 10:16 a.m.

Hallford believed the extraction was successful because the crew used sound CCRM, or crew cockpit resource management. They were all able to communicate effectively and use all resources available to them. But, in the end, the approval process was quick and the extraction was even quicker, allowing for a smooth search and rescue save.

"It's always a good feeling to get out there and help someone who's in need," Hallford said. "I know the whole crew was pretty pumped about it. For three of us, this was our first save - myself, Sergeant Oliver and Lieutenant Johnston - Johnston has been on one before but this was the first time he had to extract someone, so it's kind of like one and a half for him."