08/12/2026
| Rescue News |
๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐
Alaska Air National Guardsmen of 176th Wing rescued the victim of a Cessna 185 crash Aug. 9 near Trapper Joe Lake about 25 miles south of Anchorage.
A 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60W Jolly Green II with 212th Pararescuemen (PJs) onboard was set to participate in the Arctic Thunder Open House Joint Force Demonstration when the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at JBER received the Cessnaโs 406 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitter signal from the vicinity of Trapper Joe Lake.
Maj. Natasha Sanders, 176th Wing search and rescue duty officer during the open house, said the 406 ELT had an up-to-date registration, so AKRCC controllers were able to quickly determine who the pilot was, and they contacted the spouse who confirmed the pilot was scheduled to be flying the single-engine floatplane.
The HH-60W crew and its two assigned PJs comprised the immediate response posture crew prepared to rescue U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron pilots if there was a mishap.
โThe IRP crew was already in their seats doing comm[unications] checks, and they were able to fly a departure, which would keep them deconflicted from the airshow traffic,โ Sanders said. โAdditionally, the Blue Angles werenโt scheduled to fly their demonstration for another couple of hours, so I was confident with the information flowing from the RCC that we could execute the mission and return in time to support the Blue Anglesโ demonstration. However, as a contingency, I activated the [tailored response posture] crew to maintain rescue response capability if the HH-60W was delayed.โ
Master Sgt. Harry Bromley, a 212th RQS PJ flying his last rescue before retiring, said the helicopter was configured for another mission, dropping its gear-mounted skis that help it stay afloat on soft muskeg terrain.
Vectoring in on the 406โs coordinates, the HH-60 crew quickly found the wreckage.
โWe landed in a really marshy spot, and so Jolly had to keep power in to not get the helicopter stuck,โ Bromley said. โWe found the crash site pretty fast. The Cessna 185 basically ran out of lake on floats and went into the trees. It was upside down, and the patient self-extricated.โ
Bromley said the patient exhibited light injuries, but the rescue crew decided to transport him to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage out of an abundance of caution.
โWe basically grabbed him, walked him over to where the helo was, and then shut down his ELT, grabbed some of his personal effects and took him to Prov[idence] for further treatment,โ the PJ said. โSo, pretty straight forward rescue.โ
Bromley said it was a landmark mission for him and for the crew, which included New York Air National Guard members of the 106th Rescue Wing.
โIt was cool,โ he said. โIt was the first mission for an augmentee from the New York pararescue team, first mission for a special mission aviator augmentee from the New York helicopter squadron, and probably my last mission as a PJ wearing the uniform.โ
AKRCC officials urge civilian pilots to maintain current registration information for their 406 ELT to expedite rescue efforts in case of an emergency. Additionally, emergency position-indicating radio beacons and commercially available satellite two-way messaging devices can further expedite rescue operations for plane crash victims.
Story by David Bedard | Alaska National Guard Public Affairs
Photo caption: A 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60W Jolly Green II carrying 212th Rescue Squadron pararescuemen returns to JBER after a Aug. 9, 2026, mission rescuing a pilot of a Cessna 185 that crashed near Trapper Joe Lake about 25 miles south of Anchorage. The rescue happened during the baseโs Arctic Thunder Open House, and special coordination was made for the HH-60 to depart the open houseโs Joint Force Demonstration. (Alaska Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Joseph Moon)
