Helo crew records save number 398

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cortney Paxton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Four 40th Helicopter Squadron crew members on a UH-1N Huey helicopter helped record the unit's 398th successful Search and Rescue mission after rescuing a hunter who had gotten separated from his group in the Beartooth Wilderness, south of Livingston, Mont.

On Sept. 21, after the hunter had been separated from his group for nearly 24 hours, civilian agencies, in conjunction with the Park County Sheriff's Department, started a ground search for the man covering a six-square-mile area. Towards the end of the day, the sheriff's office requested a helicopter crew to search for the man with Forward Looking Infrared, or FLIR, sensors during the nighttime hours.

"The FLIR and [Night Vision Goggles] provide the ability to search effectively [at night], but your field of vision is affected by these devices," said Capt. Barry Gordon, 40th HS SAR aircraft commander. "You don't have peripheral vision to help and so your vision is limited to what is seen through the NVGs or FLIR."

Once approved by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center and 341st Missile Wing leadership at 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 21, the crew of Rescue 15 was able to prepare for the SAR mission.

The crew, consisting of Gordon, Capt. Cindy Tope, co-pilot; and Tech. Sgts. David Jacobs and Travis Kidwell, both flight engineers; were on alert at the time and took off from Malmstrom Air Force Base at 1:53 a.m. on Sept. 22.

After an hour and a half flight to the Beartooth Wilderness, the crew began looking for the man using a search route they determined after surveying the terrain. During the search, Gordon noticed a couple flashes of light near Bull Creek, which he believed to be the hunter; however, at the time, the aircraft didn't have enough fuel to rescue the hunter, so the crew dropped chemsticks to mark the location and a sleeping bag with a note telling the man to stay put and that they would return for him after refueling.

"Fuel was one issue that had to be overcome," Gordon admitted. "Finding an airport that provides fuel overnight on the weekend is not an easy task. The nearest overnight fuel available was a 40-minute flight over to Bozeman."

Following their trip to refuel, the crew returned to the site they believed the man was at and discovered that the man had not moved. They evaluated the terrain for a hoist extraction and soon lowered Kidwell to evaluate the hunter's condition, explain the hoist extraction and ultimately remove the man from the terrain.

According to helicopter operations, the man was somewhat confused and dehydrated but in good health after being lost in the Beartooth Wilderness for nearly 40 hours. Per the sheriff's request, the crew took the man to Livingston for further medical evaluation.

As nighttime hours can bring up some unique challenges for a helicopter crew, teamwork, communication and preparedness allowed the crew to successfully save the hunter.

"All of the hours spent training for this type of mission prepared us for the rescue, allowed everything to move smoothly and ensured we were able to successfully rescue this lost hunter," Gordon said.