Helicopter Heroism Award Nominations
| USCG Air Station Kodiak, Alaska 8.5 Hour Rescue in the Bering Sea Amidst Snow Squalls, 25 foot Seas and 36 degree Water | |
| 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 fishing 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 Coast Rescue helicopter 6007, forward deployed to remote St. Paul Island, Alaska, 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 Coast Guard cutter 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 established radio communications with the Captain of the F/V ALASKA RANGER. 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. The Captain did not know how many of his 47 crewmembers had made it into life rafts or how many had abandoned ship directly into the frigid waters of the Bering Sea. After LT McLaughlin updated the Captain on his crew’s ETA to his position, there was no reply on the radio. This was the last communication anyone had with the ALASKA RANGER. 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 floating in anti-exposure suits. As the crew approached within one mile of the scene, they first saw a single light in the water. Then they saw another, and then another, and then another until the water was filled with blinking lights that were too numerous to count. It was estimated that the crew of ALASKA RANGER were floating across a one mile expanse of the Bering Sea. 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 over the first group of floating survivors. AST2 Hollow was hoisted into the churning Bering Sea 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. Intermittent, severe snow squalls caused whiteout effects through the pilot’s night vision goggles due to the aircraft’s lighting. LT Bonn immediately transitioned his focus inside to the aircraft’s instruments. Having lost visual contact with the water through NVGs, due to the white out effects of a severe snow squall, LT Bonn maintained the aircraft in a stable hover over the water by reference only to the instruments until LT McLaughlin was able to secure all of the helicopters external lighting. With the helicopter completely “blacked out”, the pilots were able to regain a faint visual reference with the water in the midst of the blowing snow. However, the lack of light from the helicopter 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. Once the snow squalls had passed, LT McLaughlin was able to turn on the helicopter lighting allowing the crew to regain better visual contact with the water. As the crew continued to pull survivors from the water, LT McLaughlin maintained a constant lookout around the helicopter picking out the next closest blinking light in the water and directing the helicopter to its position. Each light represented yet another struggling survivor. AST2 Hollow worked unrelentingly in the water for nearly 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 LT McLaughlin called out the timing of approaching 20-30 foot waves. A fortunate advantage for this helicopter crew was that all 4 members had attended the Coast Guard’s Advanced Helicopter Rescue that specifically trains helicopter crews to conduct rescues in high sea states. 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. AMT2 Debolt continued moving the survivors into the cabin, battling against the enormous weight of the water-filled survival suits, muscle fatigue, and the slipperiness of the cabin floor that was quickly covering with ice. With strobe lights still flashing at them from every direction, the CGNR 6007 crew made the gut-wrenching decision to leave the remaining survivors in the water, recover AST2 Hollow and bring the survivors they had to safety, as the aircraft cabin had reached its maximum 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 crew of 6007 attempted to safely hoist the survivors to the violently pitching deck of the F/V Alaska Warrior. However, 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 the CGC MUNRO, CGNR 6007 learned that CGNR 6566 had been able to launch from the cutter and was en route to the scene. CGNR 6007 provided crucial survivor locations to CGNR 6566 as well as to CGNR 1705, a Coast Guard C-130 that was launched from Air Station Kodiak, and to the F/V ALASKA WARRIOR allowing those assets to continue rescue operations while the 6007 transited to the CGC Munro. 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. Calculating the need for more fuel to return to the scene and continue rescue operations, the crew then executed an extremely challenging and rare night Helicopter In-Flight Refueling (HIFR) evolution, a maneuver none of the crew had ever performed before, enabling them to return to the scene and render further assistance. Refueled, CGNR 6007 departed the cutter and returned to the survivors of the F/V ALASKA RANGER, now only 60 NM away. The crew would learn that CGNR 6566’s rescue swimmer, AST3 Abram Heller, remained in a raft with survivors due to limited space in their aircraft as CGNR 6566 returned to CGC MUNRO. Arriving back on scene, CGNR 6007 immediately located the raft containing AST3 Heller and 3 survivors 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 along with AST3 Heller. CGNR 6007 then located a fourth crewmember who was unresponsive, floating in the water. AST2 Hollow was again hoisted into the rolling seas to recover the crewmember. Having secured the unconscious crewmember to his harness, AST2 Hollow was hoisted to the helicopter. With the cabin deck again 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, decreasing the weight and allowing AMT2 DeBolt to pull them into the helicopter. With no other ALASKA RANGER crewmembers visible in the water, the crew of 6007 began conducting search patterns in the immediate area. Completing the searches 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 then transited 150 NM back to St. Paul Island. Having flown 8.5 hours, non-stop, CGNR 6007 was responsible for saving 15 lives while battling some of the most harrowing conditions the Bering Sea 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 while battling some of the most harrowing conditions the Alaskan environment has to offer. Having exceeded their maximum allowed flight hours for the day, the crew of 6007 began a regulatory mandated crew rest period. Once the crew was able to begin flight operations, they again launched toward the scene 200nm away to continue a search for a missing crewmember from the Alaska Ranger. Completing an exhaustive and unfortunately unsuccessful search with another in-flight refueling evolution, the crew of 6007 completed another consecutive day of flight operations exceeding 8 hours of flight time before landing. We feel the actions of the crew of CG6007 unquestionably make them worthy of the honor of receiving this award. | |
