JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaska Air National Guardsmen from the 176th Wing rescued the pilot of a Cessna 185 crash Aug. 9 near Trapper Joe Lake, about 25 miles south of Anchorage.
A 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60W Jolly Green II with 212th Pararescuemen, or PJs, onboard was set to participate in the Arctic Thunder Open House Joint Force Demonstration when the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, or AKRCC, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, or JBER, received the Cessna’s 406 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitter signal from the vicinity of Trapper Joe Lake.
Maj. Natasha Sanders, 176th Wing search and rescue duty officer during the open house, said the 406 Emergency Locator Transmitter, or ELT, had an up-to-date registration, so AKRCC controllers quickly determined the pilot’s identity. They contacted the pilot’s spouse, who confirmed the pilot was scheduled to be flying the single-engine floatplane.
The immediate response posture crew, composed of the HH-60W crew and its two assigned PJs, had been prepared to rescue U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron pilots if there was a mishap.
“The IRP crew was already in their seats doing comm[unications] checks, and they were able to fly a departure, which would keep them deconflicted from the airshow traffic,” Sanders said. “Additionally, the Blue Angles weren’t scheduled to fly their demonstration for another couple of hours, so I was confident with the information flowing from the RCC that we could execute the mission and return in time to support the Blue Angles’ demonstration. However, as a contingency, I activated the [tailored response posture] crew to maintain rescue response capability if the HH-60W was delayed.”
Master Sgt. Harry Bromley, a 212th Rescue Squadron PJ flying his last rescue before retiring, said the helicopter was configured for another mission, dropping its gear-mounted skis that help it stay afloat on soft muskeg terrain.
Vectoring in on the 406’s coordinates, the HH-60 crew quickly found the wreckage.
“We landed in a really marshy spot, and so Jolly had to keep power in to not get the helicopter stuck,” Bromley said. “We found the crash site pretty fast. The Cessna 185 basically ran out of lake on floats and went into the trees. It was upside down, and the patient self-extricated.”
Bromley said the pilot had minor injuries, but the rescue crew transported him to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage out of caution.
“We basically grabbed him, walked him over to where the helo was, and then shut down his ELT, grabbed some of his personal effects and took him to [Providence] for further treatment,” the PJ said. “So, pretty straight forward rescue.”
Bromley said it was a landmark mission for him and for the crew, which included New York Air National Guard members of the 106th Rescue Wing.
“It was cool,” he said. “It was the first mission for an augmentee from the New York pararescue team, first mission for a special mission aviator augmentee from the New York helicopter squadron and probably my last mission as a PJ wearing the uniform.”
AKRCC officials urge civilian pilots to maintain current registration information for their 406 ELT to expedite rescue efforts in case of an emergency. Additionally, emergency position-indicating radio beacons and commercially available satellite two-way messaging devices can further expedite rescue operations for plane crash victims.