NAS Whidbey SAR Rescues Two Climbers on Mount Stuart

— from Thomas Mills for Whidbey Naval Air Station —

A Search and Rescue helicopter from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island stages in a clearing near Mount Stuart in the Cascade Mountains during a rescue of two climbers July 11, 2018.

A Search and Rescue (SAR) team from Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island rescued two climbers on Mount Stuart, Wednesday, July 11, 2018.

In the mid-morning of July 11, the NAS Whidbey Island SAR team received word of a climber with a crushed foot on Mount Stuart, approximately one mile west of Sherpa Peak.  When the SAR crew arrived on scene they immediately spotted two climbers in a narrow draw on a rock ledge.  The SAR crew were able to hoist both climbers on board, transporting them to higher care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

NAS Whidbey Island SAR, has conducted 23 total missions throughout Washington State this year, including seventeen rescues, four searches and two medical evacuations.

The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue/medical evacuation (SAR/MEDEVAC) platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation.  Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a non-interference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to tasking by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (based on a Washington State Memorandum of Understanding) for inland missions, and/or tasking by the United States Coast Guard for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.

Captions:

IMG_8616.jpg – A Search and Rescue helicopter from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island stages in a clearing near Mount Stuart in the Cascade Mountains during a rescue of two climbers July 11, 2018.