The White Falcon - 14.01.1994, Blaðsíða 4

Rescue from page 1
The weather was adequate at take-off, but
it became progressively worse as the helicop-
ters headed toward Vodlavik. “When we left,
we had a 300- to 400-foot ceiling with two
miles visibility and rain and snow showers.
But as we advanced along the southern coast,
the ceiling was as low as 100 feet a d visibil-
ity dropped to almost zero,” Sills said. “Add
to that 60-knot head winds and moderate to
severe turbulence, and you’ve got yourself
some weather,” he added.
Relentless headwinds prompted a "hot re-
fuel" stop (engines and rotors turning) for
both aircraft atHofh around 1:50p.m. Taking
off 15 minutes apart, the helicopters contin-
ued their trek along the coast through rapidly
deteriorating weather conditions. At one
point, Sills and his copilot, Lt. Col. Gary
Copsey, were buffeted by intense turbulence
and heavy snow showers that resulted in an
uncontrolled descent - from 150 feet to 60
feet. “It was a real bad bump that didn’t last
long, so we were able to move on,” noted
Sills. ’
“It was awful standing on the
beach so close to the men and
not being able to help them."
Aircraft 206 arrived on the scene at ap-
proximately 3 p.m., and both Blumintritt and
copilot Capt. Gary Henderson assessed the
situation. They saw only the top of the
Godinn's bridge and smokestack, with some
exposed antennas. The crewmen were hang-
ing on and somehow withstanding the persis-
tent 45-knot winds and 25- to 30-foot seas
breaking on top of the bridge.
"What saved the crew members was their
ability to tie themselves firmly to equipment
on top of the bridge, " conveyed Jon Trausti
Gudjonsson, a member of an Icelandic res-
cue team called Brimrun. "They used strong
thongs fitted to their float suits. Without the
thongs, they wouldn't have been able to hold
on because the breakers washed over them
almost constantly.
"It was awful standing on the beach so
close to the men and not being able to help
them. That feeling cannot be described in
words," said Gudjonsson.
Hovering over the Godinn became a prob-
lem because of the churning ocean below and
the exposed antennas. Sills and Blumintritt
had to rely on the expertise of their respective
flight engineers, Airman 1st Class Bill Payne
and Senior Airman Jeff Frembling, to deter-
mine a viable hover position and guide them
safely over the ship.
Despite these adverse conditions and the
limited space from which to rescue the
stranded men below, Sills admitted the situ-
ation worked out better than he hoped. “The
waves were big,” he remembered, “but the
ship was not pitching up and down — it was
wedged on the rocks. If there had been a lot
of movement, we would’ve had some big
problems. Fortunately, the ship was rela-
tively stable.”
Risking their lives, the Air Force parares-
cuemen, Goerz and Wells, were lowered to
the boat slowly - one at a time. They counted
six men; the seventh was swept overboard in
the morning and drowned.
Aircraft 206 picked up four crew members
and shuttled them to the nearby shore and to
safety. Sills’ aircraft followed by plucking
the remaining two men from the ship, along
with Goerz and Wells. In 40 minutes, the six
survivors were safely on land and undergo-
ing observation by the members of Brimrun
and Navy doctor Lt. Rich Assaf. Four of the
six mariners were well enough to stay with
Brimrum, but two others - one suffering
from exposure and the other weak from lack
of insulin - were kept aboard the helicopters
for the short 40-mile trip to Egilsstadir.
Wearing their night-vision goggles, Sills
and Blumintritt progressed up a fjord in the
direction of Egilsstadir, but were stifled by
the weather with only 15 miles to go. “We
turned around and headed to the coast again,
looking for a return visit to Hofn,” Sills
recollected, “but we couldn’t get there be-
cause of the weather. At times, we com-
pletely lost sight of the bird in front of us
(aircraft 206), and we were only about a
quarter of a mile behind them.
“We passed a few miles south of Neskaup-
stadur and realized there was no way we were
going to make progress in this manner, so we
turned around and came back to Neskaup-
stadur. We remembered from previous expe-
rience that they had a (medical) clinic there,
but we didn’t recall an airport. At this time,
we were only concerned with getting the
aircraft safely on the ground.”
Sills found a large parking lot along the
shore line and gave the order to land. While
the two Icelanders received immediate medi-
cal attention, the residents of Neskaupstadur
turned out en masse to greet their unex-
pected, but most welcomed, heros.
U.S. Air Force Col. John Markulis, the
deputy commander of the Iceland Defense
Force, praised the efforts of Sills and his
team. ‘This was a mission of life and death
for the stranded Icelanders,” he said. “Our
rules for flying in such severe weather were
pushed to the limit by Lt. Col. Sills and his
men. We’re very proud of them.”
"You'd be hard pressed to top this
added Col. Bran McAllister, the comm;
of the 35th Wing. "We often think of
selves as warriors, but we’re also lifesavers.
They saved six lives in some of the worst
weather possible. It's a great testimony to
their courageousness and proficiency."
f on^^
was a mission
death for the
stranded Icelan
"In my three years as a pararescucman, this
mission was easily the best, " exclaimed
Wells. "Now that I've had time to look back
on the mission, the impact of rescuing six
people really sinks in."
The key to the success of this mission,
according to Sills, was old-fashioned team-
work. “It turned out just like a little sym-
phony - leading each other, working each
other’s navigation systems and backing each
other up on where we were and where we
were going. It helped immensely, especially
when the weather turned bad,” he reflect;
Although the primary mission of the se:
and rescue assets of the Iceland Deft
Force are for military contingencies, the U.S7
forces help the Icelandic coast guard when its
single aircraft is not able to respond to emer-
gencies due to distance or bad weather.
No one wants to see or hear of sea trage-
dies. But the 56th Rescue Squadron and the
joint team at NAS Keflavfk welcome the
challenge, because it’s anything but routine.
iauy
The heroes
Aircraft 208
Aircraft Commander - Lt. Col. Jim
Sills
Co-pilot - Lt. Col. Gary Copsey
Flight Engineer - Airman 1st Class
Bill Payne
Pararescueman - Sgt. Greg Reed
Flight Surgeon - Navy Lt. Rich
Assaf, VP-45
Aircraft 206
Aircraft Commander - Capt. John
Blumintritt
Co-pilot - Capt. Gary Henderson
Right Engineer - Senior Airman
Jeff Frembling
Pararescuemen - Airman Jesse
Goerz
Airman Matt Wells
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The White Falcon