Latest news with #MH-60
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Coast Guard pulls workers from hardening concrete after roof collapse
When Coast Guard rescuers reached four men who had tumbled into a 40-foot industrial tank at the top of a Washington mountain, they found that two of the men were hurt too badly to move, and one of them was lying in a pool of fast-drying concrete. The workers had been installing a roof on the steel tank when it collapsed, sending the crew and tons of debris falling to the bottom. When Coast Guard rescue swimmers, Chief Benjamin Brown and Aviation Survival Technician Jon Claridge, reached the bottom of the tank, they found themselves in a cramped, dark, and chaotic scene. 'On top of that was all the construction debris,' Brown told Task & Purpose. 'The workers had been pouring concrete on the roof before it collapsed. So the ground was uncured concrete. The consistency was just like mud when we initially got down there, and then as the scene went on, it started to cure and got a little harder. One of the patients was lying on his back, sort of, like, as if he had fallen in mud. So we had to kind of dig him out.' Over the next three hours, the swimmers and the Oregon-based crew on the MH-60 extracted the four men from the bottom of the tank, pulling off a uniquely challenging rescue, even by the full-throttle standards of the Coast Guard. In the tank, the rescue swimmers — experts in rolling waves and high winds of mid-ocean rescues, but far less familiar with confined industrial accidents — juggled four patients, two of whom were critically hurt. The pair worked amid the debris and hardening concrete from the collapsed roof as they treated what injuries they could and packaged each patient for a long hoist out of the tank. In the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, the pilots watched their gauges and orbited to save gas, knowing they could not leave or even land to conserve fuel because of radio contact with the swimmers. But while the pilots flew and the rescue swimmers tended to the patients, the center of the mission was the helicopter's flight mechanic, Logan Harris. Over the course of three hours, Harris executed nearly a dozen hoists, navigating both the rescue swimmers and the four patients out of the tank, whose rim was now a jagged mess of rebar poles. Over 100 feet below, missing the hoist by just a foot could snag a swimmer or a patient, endangering them and the helicopter. And though most of the crew were seasoned rescue veterans, the mission was Harris' second-ever live rescue. 'I don't have a ton of experience as a flight mechanic. One live hoist previous to this. I won't say it was a mundane case, but certainly nothing like this,' said Harris, who spent six years as a helicopter mechanic in the Marines before joining the Coast Guard to fly. 'I definitely pushed the envelope for me personally, but we had a solid crew that kind of kept everything together.' Harris, Brown, and pilots Lt. Mike Travers and Lt. Mike Bucha had spent the morning on a training flight in an Astoria, Oregon-based MH-60, by coincidence, practicing a hoist over dryland. But soon after returning to Astoria, a call arrived from local first responders asking for assistance. 'We got the word it might be four people trapped inside of a water tower that had potentially collapsed, and that was really all we got,' Travers said. 'It worked out because most of us were already in our dry suits, ready to go. I met Chief Brown at the aircraft right for the pre-flight, and told him what was going on. And that was when he asked if it would be a good idea to bring a second rescue swimmer, which is generally a common practice we try to employ when we're doing anything inland, because some of those environments can be rather demanding and it's nice to have a second person on the ground.' After a 30-minute flight to Taholah, Washington, on the west coast of the Olympia peninsula, the crew arrived overhead and quickly learned that the fire departments on the ground had no way to reach the men inside the tank. They decided the two swimmers would be hoisted down. It would be, Harris quickly realized, far from routine. 'So the structure having rebar on the outside was definitely a major point of contention,' Harris said. 'Devices coming up and down can get impacted by the rotor wash and get a bad swing. So, obviously, that swing heading towards rebar is not good.' A second major issue would be the height. While a typical Coast Guard hoist during a mission might be from 40 feet high, the tank forced the helicopter to hover at 120 feet above the ground. Any lower, Harris said, and the winds from the helicopter's rotor wash — trapped and amplified by the tank's walls — would have been unbearable to both the rescuers and patients inside. 'From the height of the hoist, it's hard to tell exactly what the swimmers are looking at down there, so I was trying to keep [a] really close eye on their hand signals,' Harris said. 'Where they need to go, where they need devices to be.' Harris estimated that the tank was probably 30 feet wide, but when its roof collapsed, dozens of steel rebar rods poked inwards around the lip. That meant when he lowered the swimmers or, later, each time he raised a patient in a 7-foot steel litter, he had to bring them up through the lip of exposed rebar. 'Navigating devices in and out of that environment was particularly tricky,' he said. Over the course of the three-hour rescue, Harris lowered and raised the helicopter's cable over a dozen times, never getting hung up. When the four workers fell, all were injured but two more seriously than their coworkers, who could walk. One who could not move was lying in a pool of wet, uncured concrete. Though the concrete was still wet and pliable when the rescuers arrived, they quickly realized they were in a race to free the patient and finish the rescue before it set. By the time the team left, the material had hardened under their feet, said Claridge, one of the other rescue swimmers who was lowered into the tank. 'I was having to use my hands and dig some of that wet concrete away from his side, because we only had like six inches all around him to work,' said Claridge. 'So we were just digging, like, holes to try and get space to move in.' The crew originally believed they could make quick work of lifting the men in a rescue basket, a small cage that patients can sit inside to be hoisted up. But all four men were too badly hurt and would need to be put on backboards and sent up in a litter — which, at nearly seven feet long, would be more likely to be caught up on the exposed rebar. Adding to the difficulty was their workspace. The only spot on the floor of the tank clear enough for the two to treat a patient and load them in the litter was against the wall, which was far off the straight line down the center that the hoist needed to follow. Each time Harris raised a patient with his controls up above, the swimmers had to grab the litter and stabilize it in the center of the tank. In the helicopter, Travers and Bucha were worried about two issues: fuel and communicating with their swimmers. The helicopter had left Astoria with a full tank that might last five hours if the pilots conserved fuel. But the long hovers for the hoists ate into that time. 'The closest place to get fuel was about 30 miles away,' said Travers. 'But one of the big things that ended up being a big gas drainer for us was we had no way to communicate with them unless we were directly over the top. A lot of times, if we can, we'd like to land, and that'll preserve a lot of fuel, but just because we had no way to communicate with them, it wasn't the right decision for us to kind of hang them out to dry by themselves with no way to communicate. So we just went into what we call a max endurance orbit over the top and primarily operated off hand signals instead of a radio.' A key time saver was the organization by first responders around the tank. Fire and ambulance services from local fire departments lined up ambulances on a road 200 yards from the tank. After each patient was brought on board — a process that required Harris to not just operate the hoist, but then pull up the litter's 120-foot guide line by hand each time — the crew immediately landed at the ambulances, where a crew would transfer the patient to a gurney, handing Harris a new backboard to replace the one with the patient. 'We would not have been as successful without the help of the local EMS and fire department,' said Travers. 'They really set up a pretty amazing operation on the ground for us to be able to transfer the patients quickly.' Army to eliminate 2 Security Force Assistance Brigades, reassign experienced soldiers Why the Army's new XM7 rifle reignited a debate over volume of fire Air Force delay on separation and retirement orders isn't 'stop loss,' defense official says F-35's close call over Yemen raises questions about how it's used An Army unit's 'extreme use of profanity' was so bad, they made a rule about it
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Upgrades ahead across the special operations helicopter fleet
TAMPA, Fla. – Special operators are upgrading nearly every aspect of their helicopter fleet as they await the Army's newest addition to the rotary wing section. From the MH-6 light attack assault 'Little Bird,' to the MH-60 medium attack assault 'Blackhawk,' to the MH-47 heavy assault 'Chinook,' officials who develop the aircraft showcased ongoing upgrades Thursday at the Global SOF Foundation Special Operations Forces Week. Developers continue to tweak the Little Bird, the small but powerful aircraft unique to SOCOM. 'It is your streetfighter,' said Paul Kylander, product manger of the aircraft for Program Executive Office-Rotary Wing. 'When operators want to get to your front door, this is the aircraft they use.' The 'R' model project is finding ways to lighten the aircraft for greater speed and range by resetting the entire fleet's fuselage with lighter materials. Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today's threats The project is also upgrading the cockpit for better avionics management and an advanced airborne tactical mission suite, Kylander said. Those upgrades are part of ongoing efforts that will continue until 2034 for the aircraft. Then, plans call for a Block 4 upgrade or a possible divestment between 2035 to 2042. They're also lightening main and auxiliary fuel tanks and both the attack and assault planks for the aircraft. The MH-60 is seeing some of its own upgrades. Software updates, navigation tools for degraded visual environments, improved sensors, sensor data fusion and next generation tactical communications are currently being installed on the MH-60 fleet, said Lt. Col. Cameron Keogh. There's ongoing work to improve the engine life of the YT706 engine, and future efforts include building an open architecture common cockpit. On the weapons side, the Blackhawk is adding the joint air-to-ground missile, a conformal lightweight armament wing, M-230 recoil dampers, the GAU-19 Gun Pod and a helmet display tracking system. Those additions provide more options to Blackhawk crews. 'Having a quiver full of tools to do your job is pretty handy,' Keogh said. The Blackhawk will also see an improved crew chief seat, AN/PQ-187 Silent Knight Radar nose door reconfiguration and upturned exhaust suppressor II, engine inlet barrier filter for dusty environments and the GE T901 Improved Turbine Engine. On the heavy side, the MH47G Chinook is seeing increased demand for payloads, range and speed, said Lt. Col. Thomas Brewington, product manager for the Chinook at the PEO. The oldest frame in the Chinook fleet will retire soon after 59 years of service, Brewington said. But the aging platform is seeing its own set of advancements with a replacement of the existing flight control pallets, which augment manned flight by using a system called the Active Parallel Actuator Subsystem. The system 'augments manned flight by providing tactile cueing to prevent the pilot from exceeding an aircraft performance limit resulting in increased safety and operational usage while reducing pilot workload during the most critical stages of flight,' Brewington said. An October 2024 test of the system allowed a 'hands off' landing on a predesignated point by a Chinook crew at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, Brewington said. The system is a 'stepping stone' to autonomous pilot assist, he said.
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Miami Herald
24-02-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Boaters found atop flipped boat off Florida after call from worried family, video shows
A frantic phone call about three missing boaters led the U.S. Coast Guard to find a capsized 20-foot boat in the dark off southwest Florida, rescuers say. The boaters were clinging to the hull, the USCG said in a news release. The rescue happened Sunday, Feb. 23, off Captiva, a barrier island about a 165-mile-drive south from Tampa. 'A family member called Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders at approximately 1 a.m., reporting their last contact with the three boaters was at 8 p.m., Saturday,' officials said. 'A Coast Guard ... MH-60 helicopter aircrew found the three boaters sitting on top of their capsized vessel in reportedly good health.' Video shows the three frantically waving their arms in hope of getting the helicopter crew's attention. A USCG rescue boat based out of Fort Myers Beach was sent to pull the boaters from the water, officials said. They were examined by emergency medical personnel at the Coast Guard station, officials said. Details of any injuries were not released. The three were wearing life jackets when found, video shows. 'The cause of the capsize is unknown at this time and a safety marine information broadcast was issued for the hazard to navigation,' officials said, referring to the capsized boat that was still adrift.
USA Today
24-02-2025
- General
- USA Today
Video shows US Coast Guard rescue 3 people after their boat capsizes in Florida
Video shows US Coast Guard rescue 3 people after their boat capsizes in Florida Show Caption Hide Caption Videos shows Coast Guard rescue operation of stranded boaters A Coast Guard crew rescued three stranded boaters after their vessel capsized off the coast of Florida. Three people were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard near Captiva Island in Florida after their vessel capsized. The three boaters on a 20-foot center console were reported missing by a family member around 1 a.m. Sunday, who said their last contact with them was at 8 p.m. Saturday, the Seventh Coast Guard District said in a news release Sunday. A rescue operation was initiated, and a "Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 helicopter aircrew found the three boaters sitting on top of their capsized vessel in reportedly good health, the news release said. Watch: US Coast Guard rescues 3 people from capsized boat 3 dead, 2 hospitalized: Crews search for missing person after boat capsized near Staten Island, New York Boaters were in water for hours before they were rescued by the USCG Video footage from the rescue shows the boaters sitting atop the capsized boat waving to rescuers before a coast guard boat arrives to retrieve them and take them back to a coast guard station where medics awaited. U.S.C.G. told USA TODAY Monday the boaters were in the water for approximately 9 hours and were transported to a local hospital for further medical care. The news release said aircrew directed a Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach boat crew, "who arrived on scene and safely transferred all three boaters aboard." 'We were able to locate and rescue the three boaters thanks to the quick coordination of the Coast Guard and the Lee County Sheriff's Office, along with the use of critical search tools,' Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg Chief Warrant Officer Dennise Werre said in a statement. 'Completing a float plan with a loved one prior to going out on a vessel is critical. Float plans provide first responders with information such as the intended route, how many people are aboard, and what safety equipment may be available.' It was not immediately known why the boat capsized and U.S.C.G said a "safety marine information broadcast was issued for the hazard to navigation." Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@ and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
US Coast Guard rescues 3 after boat capsizes off Florida coast: video
Video from the U.S. Coast Guard shows the moment three boaters were rescued after their vessel capsized off the coast of Florida over the weekend. The rescue mission took place on Sunday after the Coast Guard was called out to find three overdue boaters off Captiva Island. A family member of one of the boaters notified the Coast Guard around 1 a.m. on Sunday that their last contact with the three boaters was at 8 p.m. on Saturday, and that they were on a 20-foot center console. A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 helicopter aircrew flew out to search for the missing boaters following the report. Fishing Boat Captain Who Rescued Navy Pilots After Jet Crash Describes Surreal Moment: 'What We See In Movies' Video shows the crew finding the three missing boaters sitting on top of their capsized boat – all reportedly in good health. Read On The Fox News App Retired Coast Guard Helicopter Commander Details Risks To Air Crews Fighting La Fires The aircrew also called in assistance from the Coast Guard Station Fort Myers Beach boat crew, who arrived at the scene and safely transferred all three boaters aboard. They were then transported to emergency medical services at the Coast Guard station to be evaluated. Missing Florida Jet Skier Found Clinging To Rocks Off St. Lucie Inlet In Dramatic Rescue: Video "We were able to locate and rescue the three boaters thanks to the quick coordination of the Coast Guard and the Lee County Sheriff's Office, along with the use of critical search tools," Chief Warrant Officer Dennise Werre of Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg said in a statement. "Completing a float plan with a loved one prior to going out on a vessel is critical. Float plans provide first responders with information such as the intended route, how many people are aboard, and what safety equipment may be available." Officials were unsure of what caused the boat to article source: US Coast Guard rescues 3 after boat capsizes off Florida coast: video
