JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Three Alaska Air National Guard pararescuemen, or PJs, of the 212th Rescue Squadron provided lifesaving medical care May 5 for a pilot involved in a plane crash near Knik Glacier.
Master Sgt. Tyler Albee, 212th Rescue Squadron pararescueman; Master Sgt. Bill Cenna; and Tech. Sgt. Roman Ramirez had been training for glacier rescue operations near the Knik Glacier when they witnessed the plane crash about 2 kilometers away, Albee said.
Local aviators, flying mainly small Piper Cubs, were hosting a Cub fly-in at the “Picnic Table” gravel airstrip when the plane crashed.
“We were watching all of these Cubs land when Roman and I had our backs turned, and Bill saw the plane crash,” Albee said. “We all turned around and noticed a big fireball.”
The team grabbed a medical rucksack, which is sufficient to treat three patients, and boarded their SXV tactical side-by-side ATV for the quick ride to the crash site.
They found a wrecked Piper Cub that had caught fire and had been nearly consumed by the flames.
The trio made contact with the pilot shortly after two good Samaritans extracted him from the aircraft, Albee said. The PJs then provided immediate lifesaving care for the pilot, who had a broken leg, life-threatening bleeds and circumferential burns on much of his body.
“We immediately started doing work on him, exposing injuries, severe burns and a broken leg that was bleeding,” Albee said. “So, we controlled arterial bleeding in his left leg while talking to him, reassuring him and continuing to assess his level of consciousness.”
After about 15 minutes of medical intervention, Albee said he handed the patient’s care over to the other PJs and contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center to arrange an evacuation from the remote airstrip.
Normally, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, initiates rescue operations for a plane crash after receiving an emergency call or a signal from an emergency locator transmitter that is activated upon crash impact. If the Alaska National Guard’s 176th Wing accepts the mission, its members could dispatch an HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter with PJs on board to search for isolated personnel, treat them on-site and evacuate them to higher-level medical care. For longer-range, more complex rescues, or if the rescue requires the airborne insertion of PJs, the wing also can dispatch an HC-130J Combat King II.
In this case, the process was somewhat in reverse. Armed with the knowledge that PJs were already on the ground, usually the most difficult aspect to plan and execute, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center requested a civilian air ambulance helicopter.
Arriving with a pilot and two flight medics, the PJ trio and civilian aeromedical team worked together to prepare the pilot for transport to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, about 40 miles southeast of the glacier.
Albee said he was grateful his team was close enough to help the pilot after the harrowing crash.
“It was a blessing to be in the right place at the right time to have a positive impact on somebody’s life on their worst day ever,” Albee said.