The Longhorn helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) team from Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon conducted a night rescue on a remote portion of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) near Mammoth Lakes, CA on Saturday, Sep. 23, 2017.

Saturday evening, NAS Fallon received a request for immediate life-saving response from military aircraft from the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) via the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC). Cal OES had received an emergency GPS tracker activation message stating that a 28 year old female hiker had fractured both of her ankles and reported a "head bump alert" after falling from approximately 10 feet off of a rock while hiking the PCT.

A crew of five departed NAS Fallon at 10:35 p.m. for the 116 nautical mile transit to the GPS tracker location. After arriving on scene, the crew immediately spotted the location of the survivor thanks to flashlight signals from her fellow hikers; however, no landing site was available due to vegetation and steep mountainous terrain.

Additionally, the aircraft could not immediately hover to conduct a hoist rescue because of low power margins created by an elevation of 9,200 feet and local wind conditions.

After making several practice approaches and burning fuel down to 20 minutes of on station time, the Longhorn crew deployed a SAR Medical Technician (SMT) via rappel to the survivor's location. Once on the ground, the SMT performed an expedited medical assessment of the survivor and with the assistance of her fellow hikers, prepared her for and conducted a hoist extraction.

With the survivor and SMT safely onboard the aircraft, the crew provided in-flight care during a 60 nautical mile transit to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, California. The survivor was turned over to emergency room staff at 1:40 a.m. on Sunday morning.

This rescue, which required expert skill in helicopter mountain rescue techniques, was the fifth rescue of 2017 for NAS Fallon SAR. The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters as search and rescue/medical evacuation (SAR/MEDEVAC) platforms for the Fallon Range Training Complex in Nevada.

Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a non-interference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to tasking by the AFRCC for inland missions, and/or tasking by the United States Coast Guard for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.

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