Airmen rescue Icelandic fisherman

  • Published
  • By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Travis D. Eisele
  • Iceland Defense Force Public Affairs
NAVAL AIR STATION KEFLAVÍK, Iceland (AFPN) --  Airmen of the 56th Rescue Squadron here completed their second rescue in a month when they evacuated an injured Icelandic fisherman April 10.

They flew a fisherman suffering from multiple injuries and having difficulty breathing after receiving a blunt trauma caused by a broken cable about 200 miles southeast of here.

At 1:16 a.m., the 56th RQS operations supervisor was notified by the Icelandic Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center about the incident. Alert operations and maintenance people began gathering information for the rescue and preparing to launch an aircraft.

“One minute you are sleeping, next minute you get a call,” said Senior Airman Jason Chan, a 56th RQS pararescueman on the mission. “(This was) totally unexpected, but despite that, it is just like so many other calls we receive.”

With weather conditions listed as marginal but safe, the aircraft lifted off for the south coast of Iceland at 3:10 a.m. The aircrew followed the coastline toward the last known location of the vessel.

Weather conditions continued to deteriorate. The aircrew had to contend with blowing snow, light icing, 52-mph winds and no moon illumination. The aircrew used infrared searchlight and adjusted their altitude, airspeed and course to ensure safe passage to the rescue location.

They made several attempts to radio the crew of the fishing vessel directly, but their initial attempts were unsuccessful. All incoming information had to be relayed from the rescue center through the 56th RQS operations supervisor.

Despite poor visibility, the aircrew located the fishing vessel at 5:10 a.m. by using the aircraft’s weather radar.

The shape of the ship, along with rough seas, made it difficult for the aircrew to lower the pararescuemen onto the vessel. But after several attempts, one of the Airmen successfully boarded the vessel and began an initial assessment of the patient.

With the injured fisherman loaded into a litter and hoisted up to the hovering helicopter, the aircrew plotted a course to the Reykjavík hospital, but fuel and weather conditions en route forced the helicopter to land here. Upon landing, the patient was driven to the hospital in an ambulance.

The success of missions like this is directly attributable to the teamwork of the crew, said Maj. Brett Hartnett, 56th RQS aircraft commander, of the rescue.

“One of the strengths of our unit is that we’re small and we know each other very well,” he said. “We were working on mitigating the hazards with bad weather, rough seas and very low visibility. We always work as a team, and this rescue was a real crew effort. There is no one person who stands out -- they all do. Everyone, including our maintenance folks, worked together that night and played a part in saving the Icelandic gentleman's life.” (Courtesy of U.S Air Forces in Europe News Service)