Airmen rescue civilian pilot in Alaska Published March 1, 2004 CAMP DENALI, Alaska (AFPN) -- A pilot is out of the woods, literally, after being rescued by the Alaska Air National Guard’s 210th Rescue Squadron on March 1.Ted Greene, an Anchorage resident in his mid-70s, called in a mayday report after his plane crashed and was hung up in some trees in the Skwenta area, about 60 miles northwest of Anchorage on Feb. 29.The plane, a Piper PA-15, went down shortly after Mr. Greene dropped off snow machiners at Toehead Lake.The mayday, originally heard by a commercial aircraft crew, was garbled. The identification of the aircraft could not be deciphered, and there was no emergency locator transmitter signal. Alaska Air National Guard’s Rescue Coordination Center officials here directed the launch of a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules rescue tanker. Pararescuemen from Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage were aboard.The two aircraft flew search patterns for six hours into the early morning of March 1 before returning to Kulis ANG Base because snow and rain made rescue flights unsafe.The 210th Rescue Squadron launched a Pave Hawk helicopter at first light March 1 and located the downed aircraft in their initial daylight search. Mr. Greene was rescued at about 8:33 a.m. “(Before) launch this morning, we had Air Guard and Civil Air Patrol on standby,” said Maj. Rick Watson of the RCC. “We had three to four civilians with snow machines who volunteered to do ground searches. We had tremendous volunteer support.” Mr. Greene was taken to Providence Medical Center for evaluation and is listed in good condition.“It’s a positive way to start a Monday off with a rescue,” said Maj. Mike Haller, a Guard spokesman. “We are very thankful Mr. Greene is home safe with his family, and that the Alaska National Guard could be of assistance.”