October 15, 2009

Flying through harm's way - Air Station Kodiak

By US Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn

As vessels travel through the Bering Sea they encounter fierce hurricane-like storms that travel south from the Arctic creating seas rising higher than three story buildings and wind squalls greater than 70 mph. With the massive distances of occasionally more then 1,000 miles between the mainland of Alaska and the western most island of the Aleutians, personnel from Air Station Kodiak are often called upon to fly through such conditions.

Air Station Kodiak was commissioned as an air detachment April 17, 1947 with one PBY Catalina aircraft, seven pilots and 30 crewmen representing the first permanent Coast Guard aviation resource in Alaska. Dating from its humble beginnings to today, the air station is now staffed with 53 officers, six chief warrant officers, 300 enlisted personnel, and six civilian personnel who help maintain as well as provide support for five HC-130 Hercules fixed wing aircraft, four MH-60 Jayhawk and four HH-65C Dolphin helicopters.

When the time comes, aircrews will fly from Kodiak Island to search for or medevac someone to or from Attu, Shemya or Adak Island, encompassing a distance of more than 2,200 miles total.

The Aleutian Island's are comprised of 300 small volcanic islands which stretch 1,100 miles forming a chain from the mainland of Alaska to the farthest westward island of Attu separating the North Pacific Ocean from the Bering Sea.

"Weather here spans from beautiful days to dense fog and rain in summer time to intense winds, icing, blowing snow, with turbulence and wind shear due to terrain in the winter months. Volcanic eruptions are also common and not something we have to contend with often in the lower 48," answered Lt. Cmdr. Craig Neubecker, a Jayhawk pilot and the air station's deputy executive officer, when asked what makes flying in western Alaska so demanding. "Flying in this weather, in and around the mountainous terrain calls upon pilots and aircrews to know their helicopter inside and out, such as how the helicopter will handle in high winds and turbulence, anti-ice/de-ice equipment and what to do during an emergency. Our limits with both the aircraft and personnel are truly tested."

In addition to dealing with hurricane force winds, aircrews often fly through visibility of less than one-half mile, horizontal snow squalls and extended periods of darkness during the long winters.

Due to the extreme distances of flying throughout western Alaska, Coast Guardsmen at the air station work together for logistics, planning and operations in order for the aircraft to be ready at all times.

Aircrews are stationed with rescue aircraft and helicopters on St. Paul Island during the months of January to April due to the large number of fishing vessels that operate around the area catching Opilio crab. The same follows for Cordova during the months of May through September and Cold Bay during October through November. Having the rescue crews at these aviation support facilities enables aircrews to respond quicker for search and rescue missions during the seasonal fisheries in the area.

"We could not conduct our missions without all the support personnel such as the yeoman, storekeepers, gunners mate's, marine science technician's, and the operation specialist's who take care of the logistics at the air station which in turn makes it possible to do what we do," said Neubecker.

The training done on a regular basis enables the aircrews to be prepared for any situation. When crews are not conducting operational rescue missions they are training for them. No time is wasted as crews are either conducting a mission or training for the next one.

In late February aircrews responded to a mayday call and encountered 90 mph winds as well as 15-foot seas while attempting to rescue four fishermen from the fishing vessel Icy Mist near Akutan Island. The rescue effort was comprised of multiple aircrews including all three types of aircraft from Air Station Kodiak.

One dolphin aircrew launched out of Dutch Harbor but had to abort due to high winds and heavy turbulence exceeding the limitations of the aircraft. Prior to the Dolphin launching, two Jayhawk helicopters launched from St. Paul along with a Hercules aircrew who launched from Air Station Kodiak to provide communications support.

"Imagine being hit with a hammer on the top of the aircraft," said Lt. Cmdr. Scott Jackson, pilot at Air Station Kodiak. "We dropped 100 feet in less than a second. The bottom of the aircraft dropped out of the sky as we realized the weather was going to limit us and we were not going to be able to hoist them from their vessel."

The four fishermen had do disembark the vessel and crawl across jagged rocks to a nearby cliff in order for the Jayhawk piloted by Jackson and aircrew to safely hoist them.

When severe weather arises unpredictably in Kodiak making it impossible for them to land, aircrews frequently have to divert to other locations. Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage as well as King Salmon often serve as an alternate airport. Additionally, rescue helicopter crews divert to Cordova, Cold Bay or Dutch Harbor to avoid bad weather.

Flying vast distances along the Aleutian Islands can take anywhere from two to four days to take survivors to proper medical care. For this reason multiple helicopter aircrews travel in a Hercules to remote locations to meet with the search and rescue helicopter and rotate with other aircrews in order to keep flying.

The reason it takes multiple aircrews to conduct a long range medevac is similar to why it's not safe to drive 24 hours straight. Aircrews are limited in the amount of consecutive flight time they can accumulate to avoid severe fatigue while airborne. In the case of a long range medevac a second aircrew may fly in with a Hercules to relieve the first.

Furthermore, during the rescue operation when a Jayhawk or Dolphin helicopter is hoisting someone the Hercules aircrew helps maintain communications coverage between the helicopter crew and the rescue coordination center in Juneau. Once the rescue helicopter returns to the nearest island with an airport the Hercules can then transfer the patient to a higher level of medical care if a commercial life flight is unable to do so because of weather or distance.

Aircrews that fly vast distances across the Bering Sea to remote locations are given a lot of time to think while enroute on a mission.

"'How's my family? Is everything okay back home? When will I get home?...You don't have time to think about those things until you get the mission done and are safe on deck," answered Lt.Gary Scott, pilot at Air Station Kodiak when asked what it's like to fly in a long range medevac. "On the other hand there is an element of excitement and a feeling of 'Hell ya, let's go get 'em!' That rush of adrenaline."

Many of the missions are completed in ice-cold arctic weather conditions comprised of extremely low visibility and periods of extended darkness.

In addition to search and rescue missions personnel at the air station help conduct and coordinate missions pertaining to law enforcement, marine environment protection, aids to navigation and logistical support for isolated 17th Coast Guard District units such as delivering supplies to any of the six LORAN-C stations.

What started in 1947 with one aircraft and 37 personnel as the Coast Guard's first aviation base grew to 12 aircraft with more than 450 personnel in what is now the Coast Guard's largest AOR. From beautiful sunny days to blizzard conditions that seemingly last all winter long, pilots and their aircrews along with the support and logistic personnel take pride in what they do day in and day out at Air Station Kodiak. The team effort enables the air station aircraft and crews to permanently be Semper Paratus.