Helicopter Heroism Award Nominations
| US Coast Guard 2008 Alaska Ranger - One of the Largest Coldwater Rescues in Modern History | |
| Bering Sea; 120nm west of Dutch Harbor, AK - 23 March 2008 | |
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| At 0300 on 23 March 2008, the F/V ALASKA RANGER, a 192-foot factory trawler, broadcasted a distress call reporting that it had lost its rudder and was taking on water in the Bering Sea 120 NM west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The crew of CGNR 6007, forward deployed to remote St. Paul Island, was alerted and launched immediately encountering poor visibility, 30-knot winds and low ceilings for the 200 NM transit to the last known position of the F/V ALASKA RANGER. While en route, LT McLaughlin and LT Bonn coordinated with CGC MUNRO to transfer any survivors to the flight deck of the cutter, as it would be the closest offload point if multiple sorties were required. Still 50 NM from the scene, CGNR 6007 received the F/V ALASKA RANGER’s final distress call. The vessel had developed an irrecoverable 45-degree list, all but 7 crewmembers had abandoned ship, and though all of them had donned anti-exposure suits, many of them had been unable to get into life rafts. Realizing the gravity of the situation, CGNR 6007 quickly prepared to rescue the stricken vessel’s crew from the frigid Bering Sea. By the time CGNR 6007 arrived on scene, the F/V ALASKA RANGER had indeed sunk, leaving behind an ocean littered with its 47 crew members both in rafts and anti-exposure suits, their blinking strobe lights the only visual indication of the missing ship. The helicopter crew quickly assessed the scene and approached the first group of survivors. With no other Coast Guard unit closer than 80 miles, they could communicate only with the sister ship of the F/V ALASKA RANGER, the F/V ALASKA WARRIOR. CGC MUNRO had stated that the seas exceeded the cutter’s limits to launch their deployed helicopter, CGNR 6566, thus the crew of CGNR 6007 understood that they were the only available asset to provide immediate assistance. As AMT2 DeBolt and AST2 Hollow jettisoned any non-essential gear into the ocean to make room for survivors in the cabin, LT Bonn brought the helicopter into a 40-foot hover and the aircrew quickly began hoisting survivors out of the water. The aircrew battled blinding, disorienting snow squalls, -5 degree F wind chills, 36 degree water, 25-foot breaking seas and intense darkness as they began their operations at 5:05 a.m., Easter Sunday. The hoisting evolutions were extremely challenging for all four members of the helicopter crew. Snow squalls caused whiteout effects with the aircraft’s hover lights, forcing the pilots to secure lighting to maintain visual hover reference with the water beneath. While helpful in that respect, the lack of light caused AST2 Hollow and any survivors to disappear from AMT2 DeBolt’s view. The crew quickly and carefully mastered the delicate balance of maintaining references to hover over the raging seas while keeping visual contact with the people in the water. AST2 Hollow worked unrelentingly in the water for almost an hour, recovering 12 survivors one-by-one while AMT2 DeBolt squeezed them all carefully into the cabin. AMT2 DeBolt conned LT Bonn into position with expert precision, anticipating the motion and travel of the seas. While in the water, AST2 Hollow conducted on-scene triage of survivors then placed them in the rescue strop or basket amidst the crashing waves. AST2 Hollow and AMT2 DeBolt struggled constantly to maintain enough hoist cable to keep the devices near the survivors, yet not too much so as to entangle anyone in the water. At one point, both men found themselves in a ten-minute battle with one survivor who was too hypothermic to help himself into the basket and then too frightened to let go of the basket once inside the cabin. With strobe lights still flashing at them from every direction, the CGNR 6007 made the gut-wrenching decision to recover AST2 Hollow and bring the survivors they had to safety, as the aircraft cabin had reached its capacity. Communicating with the F/V ALASKA WARRIOR, now only 5 NM away, LT McLaughlin coordinated offload of the survivors there as it would minimize time off-scene. The aircrew was once again faced with the difficult decision of departing scene as the tumultuous sea state and rigging of the F/V ALASKA WARRIOR would not allow for safe offload of the survivors. Departing to CGC MUNRO, CGNR 6007 learned that CGNR 6566 had been able to launch. CGNR 6007 provided crucial survivor locations to CGNR 6566 as well as to CGNR 1705 and the F/V ALASKA WARRIOR allowing those assets to continue rescue operations. Dealing with severely hypothermic and shock stricken survivors, AST2 Hollow and AMT2 DeBolt worked tirelessly during the transit to help the survivors maintain consciousness while staving off the effects of the cold. As CGNR 6007 arrived at CGC MUNRO, LT Bonn masterfully hovered over the violently pitching and rolling flight deck while AMT2 DeBolt and AST2 Hollow offloaded the survivors in the rescue basket. The crew then executed an extremely challenging night Helicopter In-Flight Refueling (HIFR) evolution, a maneuver none of the crew had ever performed before, enabling them to return and render further assistance. Refueled, CGNR 6007 departed the cutter and returned to the survivors of the F/V ALASKA RANGER, 60 NM away. The crew would learn that CGNR 6566’s rescue swimmer, AST3 Abram Heller, remained in a raft with survivors as CGNR 6566 returned to CGC MUNRO. Arriving on scene, CGNR 6007 immediately located the raft and again made an approach to the water to begin hoisting. Hovering as low as 15-feet over the huge waves, CGNR 6007 hoisted three more survivors from the raft with the help of AST3 Heller, then hoisted Heller as well. CGNR 6007 then located a fourth crewmember and hoisted him to the helicopter. With the cabin deck iced over and the crewmember’s anti-exposure suit waterlogged with over 100 pounds of water, AMT2 DeBolt and AST3 Heller were unable to pull AST2 Hollow and the crewmember the last few feet into the cabin. Using remarkable ingenuity given his precarious position outside the helicopter, AST2 Hollow sliced the boots of the crewmember’s suit with his survival knife, draining the water and allowing AMT2 DeBolt to bring them into the helicopter. Completing a further search of the area with negative results, CGNR 6007 returned to CGC MUNRO for offload of the four crewmembers and AST3 Heller. The crew then conducted another demanding HIFR evolution and transited 150 NM back to St. Paul Island. Having flown 8.5 non-stop hours, CGNR 6007 was responsible for saving 15 lives while battling some of the most harrowing conditions the Alaskan AOR has to offer. Their actions were also crucial to the coordination of four other air and surface assets during the rescue of 42 people in one of the largest cold water rescues in modern history. | |
