Air Force helicopter crew rescues man injured in wilderness

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Noel Bacnis
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. (AFPN) --  A helicopter crew dispatched from the 36th Rescue Flight here successfully rescued a 77-year-old man critically injured Oct. 2 in the Selway Wilderness near Mink Peak, Idaho.

At approximately 5 p.m. Oct. 1, members of the 36th RQF dispatched a UH-1N Huey to the coordinates provided via satellite phone by two male companions of the injured man.

At 6:48 p.m., the crew arrived on scene but could not locate the man due to adverse weather conditions and dangerous mountain terrain. The landing area was surrounded by steep, rocky terrain camouflaged by snow from the previous night at an elevation of 7,300 feet.

The crew was forced to stay the night in a nearby town and continue the rescue at 8:30 a.m. the next morning.

Tech. Sgt. Patrick Hunt, an independent-duty medical technician, descended 170 feet by hoist and stabilized the injured man. The crew then extracted Sergeant Hunt with the patient via stokes litter safely to the helicopter. Once the man was secured, the crew departed for Lewiston Air Field where they were met by paramedics who transported the man to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. The two male companions were not injured and were able to get out on foot.

The rescue crew for the mission was Capt. Micah West, the aircraft commander; Capt. Christopher Johnson, the co-pilot; Tech. Sgt. William Wren, the flight engineer; and Sergeant Hunt.

The rescue was the 617th for the 36th RQF, which is part of the 336th Training Group and attached to the Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School -- an Air Education and Training Command tenant unit at Fairchild AFB.

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