Posted on May 25, 2021
Navy chopper crew rescues hiker, recovers body of woman killed in fall in Olympics
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Navy helicopter crews carried out two rescue missions over the weekend in Olympic National Park, bringing out an injured hiker on Saturday and the body of a woman who died after falling into a crevasse on Sunday.
In the first rescue, the Whidbey Island-based Navy chopper crew responded to a location near Mount Ellinor at about 4:45 p.m. Saturday after receiving a request to rescue a 71-year-old hiker who had fallen down a 300-foot ice chute and suffered possible leg and head injuries.
About 15 minutes after the crew arrived on scene, the clouds lifted enough for the helicopter to land two rescuers about 800 vertical feet below the patient.
With crampons, ice axes and their litter, the two crew members took about an hour to climb up the ice chute 800 feet to get to the patient. Meanwhile, the chopper pilots flew back to Boeing Field, refueled and returned to the scene.
In the first rescue, the Whidbey Island-based Navy chopper crew responded to a location near Mount Ellinor at about 4:45 p.m. Saturday after receiving a request to rescue a 71-year-old hiker who had fallen down a 300-foot ice chute and suffered possible leg and head injuries.
About 15 minutes after the crew arrived on scene, the clouds lifted enough for the helicopter to land two rescuers about 800 vertical feet below the patient.
With crampons, ice axes and their litter, the two crew members took about an hour to climb up the ice chute 800 feet to get to the patient. Meanwhile, the chopper pilots flew back to Boeing Field, refueled and returned to the scene.
Navy chopper crew rescues hiker, recovers body of woman killed in fall in Olympics
Posted from komonews.com
State of Washington
Helicopters
NAS Whidbey Island
Hiking
Edited 3 y ago
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
"The next day the Navy helicopter crew was called to rescue a man and woman who had fallen at about the 5,700-foot elevation near The Brothers Mountain. The hikers were descending a slope when one of them lost their footing and began to slide down the mountain.
The other fell, too, and at one point they collided in a narrow chute before the woman slid toward a crevasse. The man caught the woman, who was unresponsive at this point, and held her for as long as possible, reported as 15 to 20 minutes, before his grip failed and she fell into the crevasse.
The man was later helped onto a nearby rock ledge by other hikers.
The chopper crew launched at about 2:20 p.m. and was on station about 25 minutes later to find heavy cloud cover, forcing them to fly a holding pattern at about 7,000 feet. When an opening materialized two crew members landed and traversed the treacherous slope to the rocky ledge, where they found the male patient to be physically stable.
The two crew members were unable to get a vocal response from the female patient below so the helicopter crew flew to Brinnon to pick up three Jefferson County search and rescue personnel, then flew back to the scene.
When the female patient was pulled up from the crevasse she was found to be deceased. She was brought out by hoist and her body was turned over to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Brinnon. No other information was immediately available about her.
Because of incoming bad weather and the sun setting, the Navy crew brought up the rest of the hikers by hoist and delivered them all to Brinnon.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island search-and-rescue crews have conducted 10 missions so far this year, including two medical evacuations, seven rescues and a search."
"The next day the Navy helicopter crew was called to rescue a man and woman who had fallen at about the 5,700-foot elevation near The Brothers Mountain. The hikers were descending a slope when one of them lost their footing and began to slide down the mountain.
The other fell, too, and at one point they collided in a narrow chute before the woman slid toward a crevasse. The man caught the woman, who was unresponsive at this point, and held her for as long as possible, reported as 15 to 20 minutes, before his grip failed and she fell into the crevasse.
The man was later helped onto a nearby rock ledge by other hikers.
The chopper crew launched at about 2:20 p.m. and was on station about 25 minutes later to find heavy cloud cover, forcing them to fly a holding pattern at about 7,000 feet. When an opening materialized two crew members landed and traversed the treacherous slope to the rocky ledge, where they found the male patient to be physically stable.
The two crew members were unable to get a vocal response from the female patient below so the helicopter crew flew to Brinnon to pick up three Jefferson County search and rescue personnel, then flew back to the scene.
When the female patient was pulled up from the crevasse she was found to be deceased. She was brought out by hoist and her body was turned over to Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in Brinnon. No other information was immediately available about her.
Because of incoming bad weather and the sun setting, the Navy crew brought up the rest of the hikers by hoist and delivered them all to Brinnon.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island search-and-rescue crews have conducted 10 missions so far this year, including two medical evacuations, seven rescues and a search."
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