Guard chopper crashes in glacier rescue try
A dozen people now stranded near top of Knik
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com
Published: August 10th, 2010 06:52 PM
Last Modified: August 10th, 2010 06:53 PM
An Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crashed some 8,500 feet up Knik Glacier on Tuesday afternoon as its crew attempted to rescue five people stranded since their airplane crashed Sunday afternoon, according to the National Guard.
The mishap now leaves a dozen people stranded near the top of Knik Glacier, south of Mount Marcus Baker, in what started in an attempt to rescue five marooned souls.
"Oh my God," said the stranded pilot's mother, Beverly Erbey, on hearing of the second wreck. "Up until right now, we've been pretty upbeat. You just kind of took the wind out of our sails."
The UH-60 Black Hawk "slid and rolled over" on the glacier as its crew was trying to pick up the five crash survivors and four pararescuemen who skied in to the site Monday with supplies, said Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes.
"They landed in an attempt to extract those civilians and our pararescuemen up there," Hayes said. "I'm being told that it's in pretty bad shape," he said of the helicopter.
There were three crewmen on the helicopter and all were reported to be uninjured, Hayes said. An HH-60 Pave Hawk and an HC-130 Hercules have been dispatched to the scene to assist in recovery efforts, he said.
The pilot of the crashed PA-32, 49-year-old Donald Erbey, had taken four friends from Texas up to the glacier on Sunday afternoon when the group encountered severe weather and he tried to turn back, his family reported. The airplane hit a downdraft and crashed into a snowbank 8,500 feet up the glacier, leaving the airplane mostly intact, according to the family.
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The survivors, who were out for a short flightseeing tour, were not properly equipped for an extended glacier-top stay. Four pararescuemen from the Alaska Air National Guard began skiing four miles up the glacier Sunday night and arrived about 21 hours later with food, water, clothing and shelter to last up to three days.
They reported that only two of the people were suffering minor injuries, Hayes said. The pararescuemen intended to remain with passengers until they could be rescued, he said.
Severe weather earlier Tuesday stymied several attempts to retrieve the people by an Alaska State Troopers helicopter, which met whiteout conditions that have kept rescue flights at bay since Sunday, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.
On Monday, the Guard had been circling an HC-130 and an HH-60 helicopter overhead awaiting a break in the weather that would allow a rescue attempt. That equipment was redeployed to the Dillingham area Monday night after an airplane crashed there killing five, including former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, Hayes said.
Beverly Erbey said the Guard told her earlier Tuesday that two Black Hawk helicopters were headed down from Fairbanks to attempt a rescue atop the glacier.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/10/1404134/weather-keeps-plane-crash-survivors.html#ixzz0wGhsYOrb
http://www.adn.com/2010/08/10/1404134/weather-keeps-plane-crash-survivors.html
***update from buddies facebook**
4 PJs and 5 airplane crash survivors are trying to ride out the storm on the glacier. An Army Helo tried getting through the weather to recover everyone, it ended up crashing also. Luckily only 600 meters from their campsite, so the PJs went down and rescued the helo crew (so far no fatalities or injuries reported). So... now there are 12 people on the glacier in horrible weather, and we have an Air Force Helo with a resupply bundle of food and other supplies trying to get in as close as they can to drop the much needed resupply. See news article below.
... I'm on stand-by waiting for a break in the weather so we can help.
A dozen people now stranded near top of Knik
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com
Published: August 10th, 2010 06:52 PM
Last Modified: August 10th, 2010 06:53 PM
An Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopter crashed some 8,500 feet up Knik Glacier on Tuesday afternoon as its crew attempted to rescue five people stranded since their airplane crashed Sunday afternoon, according to the National Guard.
The mishap now leaves a dozen people stranded near the top of Knik Glacier, south of Mount Marcus Baker, in what started in an attempt to rescue five marooned souls.
"Oh my God," said the stranded pilot's mother, Beverly Erbey, on hearing of the second wreck. "Up until right now, we've been pretty upbeat. You just kind of took the wind out of our sails."
The UH-60 Black Hawk "slid and rolled over" on the glacier as its crew was trying to pick up the five crash survivors and four pararescuemen who skied in to the site Monday with supplies, said Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes.
"They landed in an attempt to extract those civilians and our pararescuemen up there," Hayes said. "I'm being told that it's in pretty bad shape," he said of the helicopter.
There were three crewmen on the helicopter and all were reported to be uninjured, Hayes said. An HH-60 Pave Hawk and an HC-130 Hercules have been dispatched to the scene to assist in recovery efforts, he said.
The pilot of the crashed PA-32, 49-year-old Donald Erbey, had taken four friends from Texas up to the glacier on Sunday afternoon when the group encountered severe weather and he tried to turn back, his family reported. The airplane hit a downdraft and crashed into a snowbank 8,500 feet up the glacier, leaving the airplane mostly intact, according to the family.
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The survivors, who were out for a short flightseeing tour, were not properly equipped for an extended glacier-top stay. Four pararescuemen from the Alaska Air National Guard began skiing four miles up the glacier Sunday night and arrived about 21 hours later with food, water, clothing and shelter to last up to three days.
They reported that only two of the people were suffering minor injuries, Hayes said. The pararescuemen intended to remain with passengers until they could be rescued, he said.
Severe weather earlier Tuesday stymied several attempts to retrieve the people by an Alaska State Troopers helicopter, which met whiteout conditions that have kept rescue flights at bay since Sunday, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.
On Monday, the Guard had been circling an HC-130 and an HH-60 helicopter overhead awaiting a break in the weather that would allow a rescue attempt. That equipment was redeployed to the Dillingham area Monday night after an airplane crashed there killing five, including former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, Hayes said.
Beverly Erbey said the Guard told her earlier Tuesday that two Black Hawk helicopters were headed down from Fairbanks to attempt a rescue atop the glacier.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/08/10/1404134/weather-keeps-plane-crash-survivors.html#ixzz0wGhsYOrb
http://www.adn.com/2010/08/10/1404134/weather-keeps-plane-crash-survivors.html
***update from buddies facebook**
4 PJs and 5 airplane crash survivors are trying to ride out the storm on the glacier. An Army Helo tried getting through the weather to recover everyone, it ended up crashing also. Luckily only 600 meters from their campsite, so the PJs went down and rescued the helo crew (so far no fatalities or injuries reported). So... now there are 12 people on the glacier in horrible weather, and we have an Air Force Helo with a resupply bundle of food and other supplies trying to get in as close as they can to drop the much needed resupply. See news article below.
... I'm on stand-by waiting for a break in the weather so we can help.
