Alaska Army National Guard rescues two Hatcher Pass hikers

WASILLA — Alaska Army National Guard’s G Company, 2nd Battalion, 211th General Support Aviation Battalion rescued two hikers at Hatcher Pass, Tuesday, June 7.

According to a recent press release, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received a mission support request from the Alaska State Troopers at 12:11 p.m. Tuesday afternoon concerning hikers in need of assistance near Gold Mint Trail. One of the hikers was injured and unable to walk.

Capt. Matthew Bryan, a controller at the AKRCC, said it was likely that a hoist rescue would be needed due to snow coverage still in the area, and a low ceiling of cloud coverage made G Company’s medevac capabilities well suited to the mission.

An HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter crew received the mission and departed from Bryant Army Airfield at 1:20 p.m.

According to the press release, the rescue crew initially had trouble locating the hikers due to challenging weather conditions, but two hikers used a GPS communication device to communicate with the AKRCC when they saw the helicopter lying overhead.

The rescue crew successfully recovered the hikers in distress and transported them to the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center at 2:22 p.m.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nick Fussner was the pilot in command of the mission. He said it was very fortunate for the hikers to have that GPS device. He stressed the importance of GPS communication devices and other contingency plans while adventuring through the Alaskan wilderness.

“The hikers had prepared and equipped themselves for worst-case scenarios,” Fussner stated in the press release. “If it came to it, they were ready to shelter in place, and that puts a lot less risk on us for the rescue.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com