NAS Whidbey Island Search and Rescue responded to a call for assistance Tuesday evening from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office.  A 15-year old girl had fallen off a cliff and into the river in Skokomish River Canyon while hiking with her family. 

Ground rescue teams had reached the injured hiker and rendered first aid. Volunteers with the Department of Natural Resources firefighting team were rigging up a rope line, but hauling the injured teen up the steep canyon walls was going to be difficult and dangerous for everyone involved, especially as her vital signs began to deteriorate.

SAR launched the MH-60S Knighthawk at 6 p.m. Aug. 17 with six crew on board:  Lt. Brandon Sheets, pilot and mission commander; Lt. Scott Zenner, pilot; Naval Air Crewman (Swimmer) 1st Class Andrew Worth, crew chief; Chief Naval Air Crew (Swimmer) Jeremiah Wilkins, Naval Air Crew (Swimmer) 2nd Class Brian Casey and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Richmond Roy.

Once on scene, the crew analyzed the situation and began conducting basic operational risk management (ORM), taking everything into consideration in order to embark on a safe and successful extraction mission. The biggest obstacle was the 450-foot High Steel Bridge spanning the canyon.

“When we showed up we took a deep breath, surveyed everything and formulated a plan,” said Sheets, explaining they had conducted power checks, determined wind levels and direction, checked the clearances under the bridge and run through the scenario. “Once we had a good plan we knew we could do it safely.”

The pilots flew the aircraft into position and held it in a steady hover so Roy could rappel down to the river with the litter. Due to the river’s current and the wind kicked up by the rotor blades, Roy stayed on the line. Thanks to the ground rescue crew, the patient was ready for transfer so they placed her in the litter, carried her out to the line and hooked her onto the line for the ride up into the helicopter with Roy.

“The rotors caused a funnel of wind in the canyon and that’s what made us spin more than usual” said Roy. “I was able to slow it down some (with arm motions), but it was Wilkins and Worth up on the hoist that really helped us get into the aircraft quickly without too much spinning.”

The entire time the aircraft was under the bridge, the crew in the plane had eyes on the rotors and was calling out distances to ensure they maintained adequate clearances on both sides. Sheets figures they were actually on scene no more than 11 minutes even though it felt longer.

“Lt. Zenner did an awesome job holding the bird rock solid,” said Roy, adding that the river’s current and depth were enough of a challenge to handle. “That made it possible to get the patient hooked up and in the aircraft so quickly.”

Once in the aircraft, the pilots maneuvered the helicopter back out from under the bridge, gained elevation out of the canyon and headed east for Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

NAS Whidbey Island’s SAR crews have successfully conducted 17 missions this year. Usually their skill and courage go undocumented. Not so this time. A news crew from the Seattle NBC affiliate, KING 5, caught the dramatic rescue on film and was so impressed they came to the base for an interview with Sheets and Roy on Wednesday.

“It’s about trusting that we have a good aircraft to fly,” said Sheets to the reporter, touting the dedicated civilian and military SAR maintenance personnel who keep the aircraft in top notch condition.

“And it’s about training - every day - so we have the crew coordination and the experience to fly a safe and successful mission,” said Sheets. “It’s our job to be ready when the call comes in and someone in a life-or-death situation needs our help.”