Crew Worked In Darkness To Winch Hiker Trapped Nearly A Mile Up
A B.C. Mountain In 45 Knot Winds
The daring cliff-side rescue of a lucky British Columbian which
pushed both the rescue crew and their search and rescue helicopter
to the limits has been selected for as the 2011 winner of the
Cormorant Trophy for Helicopter Rescue.
Cormorant File Photo
Members of 442 Squadron stationed at Canadian Forces Base Comox
– Capt. Jean Leroux, Aircraft Commander; Maj. Troy Maa, First
Officer; Sgt Carl Schouten, Flight Engineer; and search and rescue
technician (SARTech) Master Cpl Nicholas Nissen, were presented
with their trophy on November 26, 2011 by Jeremy Tracy,
AgustaWestland’s Head of Region – Canada, accompanied
by Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Walter Natynczyk
and base commander Col. Jim Benninger. One other member of the
rescue team, SARTech Sgt George Olynyk, is presently stationed at
CFB Gander.
As he presented the Cormorant Trophy Gen. Natynczyk said,
“Their dedication is an example of extraordinary
professionalism. We recognize the risks that sometimes must be
taken to keep Canadians safe.”
The Cormorant Trophy for Helicopter Rescue recognized the
"Canadian civilian, government or military crew that has performed
the most demanding helicopter rescue of the year." The Trophy is
presented annually by AgustaWestland. The selection is made by a
panel of judges which includes representatives of the Canadian
Forces and Canada’s aerospace journalists.
“This was one of the most challenging missions of my
career,” Capt. Leroux told the Canadian Forces at the time of
the rescue.
“Each year, Canadian Forces search and rescue teams
conduct thousands of missions on Cormorant helicopters saving
dozens of lives,” said Jeremy Tracy in presenting the award.
“The calibre of all the rescue nominations this year made the
selection committee’s job quite a challenge. The winning
rescue was selected from among five nominees from SAR squadrons
across Canada.
“In honouring this particular rescue this year, what
stands out is the selflessness of the crew, their determination in
saving a life, and the unwavering reliance and trust they had in
themselves and their helicopter to get an extremely difficult job
done right,” said Mr. Tracy.”
File Photo
On the night of December 23, 2010, the Cormorant helicopter
“Rescue 907” stationed with 442 Squadron at CFB Comox,
was dispatched to rescue a 23-year-old man who was stranded on a
steep side of Hat Mountain in Cyprus Provincial Park, B.C. The
Cormorant crew were racing against time, with powerful winter storm
approaching. Unless the rescue could be carried out, the man would
be stranded for days without the necessary provisions to
survive.
The stranded hiker was located nearly a mile up the mountain,
almost 500 feet into dense clouds, in a narrow and steep bowl. As
the crew approached, they were battered by the turbulence of 45
knot wind gusts blowing straight down the mountain. This forced the
pilots to fight rapid power swings, causing significant rotor speed
changes which made accurate control of the helicopter very
difficult. Using night vision gear, the search team were only able
to make out a faint light, which they hoped was their rescue
target.
“We reached the estimated location of the hiker by slowly
flying up the side of the mountain,” said Capt. Leroux.
“We had to attempt multiple passes until the visibility was
good enough for us to fly over the man’s location.”
Each of these approaches pushed the helicopter with its three
powerful engines to its limit. Normally, the “maximum”
speed or power required for missions in an AW101 Cormorant reached
about 80%, but during this rescue, the power fluctuated up to 117%,
giving constant warning alarms.
Facing the high risk of an avalanche, the crew decided on a fast
extraction with the SARTech remaining attached to the hoist. The
flight engineer then directed the aircraft about seven metres above
the hiker with a vertical rock face just one-and-a-half to three
metres in front of the rotor blades. The flight engineer lowered
the SARTech who quickly hooked up the rescue subject and both men
were hoisted on board. Throughout this procedure, the snow was
being whipped around the helicopter enveloping it in a
“snowball” drastically reducing the pilots’
visibility.
As they went to fly away, a thick layer of cloud moved in,
making it impossible to backtrack the way they came in. With almost
no visibility, the flight crew managed to extract the helicopter
from the cliff confines relying only on instrumentation to show
them the way out. The crew flew to Lyons Bay soccer field, where
the man was transferred to a land ambulance to be taken to hospital
for treatment for mild hypothermia.
The Cormorant Trophy is named after the AW101 (former EH101)
“Cormorant” medium-heavy lift helicopter used as the
Canadian Forces’ primary search and rescue helicopter. Over
190 AW101 helicopters have been sold to civil and military
customers around the world in a wide variety of configurations.
Canada’s fleet of 14 Cormorants has performed in excess of
45,000 hours and has a 98.4% mission dispatch reliability, the best
of its class. The worldwide fleet has flown in excess of 250,000
hours in Canada, UK, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, and Japan providing
exceptional performance and an extremely high degree of safety.