— from Mike Welding —
A Search and Rescue (SAR) team of five from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island conducted a rescue mission at 3,500 feet on Mt. Ellinor in the Olympic Mountain Range in Washington on Saturday, August 27, 2016. SAR also conducted a rescue on Thursday, August 25 in the Olympic National Park.
On Saturday, the SAR alert crew received a call at 4:45 to rescue a 28-year-old female who was stranded and alone with mild injuries in a heavily wooded and remote area of the Mt. Skokomish Wilderness Area.
“There were some challenging environmental issues today, but we used great teamwork to recover this hiker,” said Naval Aircrewman Second Class Daniel Ismay about the Saturday rescue. “It is very rewarding to return a missing person to her family.”
On Thursday, the crew launched a little after 8 a.m. after getting confirmation from the National Park Services that the location of the hiker was outside of the no-fly zone associated with the Olympic wildfire. On that mission the SAR crew rescued a 52-year-old male experiencing chest pains while hiking the Duckabush Trail in the Olympic National Park.
These were the 18th and 19th rescues of 2016 for NAS Whidbey Island SAR, which has also conducted nine searches and eight Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions this year. The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation. The base also has an agreement to assist Washington State and the surrounding areas with medical evacuations and search and rescue activities if other assets are unavailable.
