JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska –
Alaska Army National Guard aviators with the 1-168th General Support Aviation Battalion, rescued individuals in two separate plane crashes across Alaska Sept. 5, and Sept. 8, respectively.
On Friday, Sept. 5, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened a mission in response to a request for assistance from the Alaska State Troopers.
The AKARNG accepted the mission and dispatched a Nome based UH-60L Black Hawk crew to vicinity of the crash site about 45 miles south of St. Michael.
The UH-60 crew spotted a downed two-seat general aviation aircraft, along with two uninjured individuals and located a clearing on the tundra to land. The downed small aircraft pilot and a visiting hunter were picked up and transported to Nome where they were released to the AST.
The following Monday, Sept. 8, the AKRCC opened another mission in response to a request for assistance from the National Park Service.
The AKARNG accepted the mission, this time dispatching a Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson based UH-60L Black Hawk crew to the reported crash site in the Wrangell Mountains about 175 miles east of Anchorage.
The UH-60 crew spotted the downed two-seat general aviation aircraft, along with two uninjured individuals and located an open gravel bar to land. The two individuals, who were on a hunting trip, were picked up and transported to Gulkana where they were released to the NPS.
The mission out of Nome was prompted by a distress signal from the downed aircraft’s 406 MHz emergency locator transmitter, while mission in the Wrangell Mountains was initiated in response to an activated personal locator beacon.
The two incidents and successful outcomes highlight the vital importance of having an emergency communication plan when recreating in Alaska’s remote and rugged terrain.