Fairchild Crew Saves Hurt Hiker Puyallup Man Stranded On An Icy Peak For Four Days
A Fairchild Air Force Base helicopter team on Wednesday rescued a mountaineer whose leg injuries left him stranded for days on an icy peak near Chelan.
The helicopter crew flew to Bonanza Peak in the Cascades’ Glacier Peak Wilderness, about 45 miles northwest of Chelan, and rescued Bert Daniels of Puyallup. He had injured his Achilles tendons Saturday and couldn’t climb down.
“He’s not going to go hiking anytime soon,” said Capt. Tom Lee, an aircraft commander of the 36th Rescue Flight crew.
The four-man helicopter crew also lifted a friend of Daniels off the ground Wednesday morning. Daniels, 56, was taken to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee, where he was treated and released.
Daniels was stranded on Bonanza Peak after slipping and landing flatfooted, injuring his Achilles tendons. His friend waited with him. Another friend climbed down and reported the accident Saturday. A medical crew climbed up the mountain to check Daniels’ condition Monday. But there was no way to bring him down.
Fairchild search-and-rescue helicopters had made several attempts since Sunday to get Daniels, but cloudy weather made it impossible to fly in the area.
“Four days is unusual,” said Lee, who has worked at Fairchild for 19 months. “I haven’t seen any mission go that long.”
Once rescuers spotted the stranded men Wednesday, Technical Sgt. L.D. Judah was hoisted down to the ground to assess Daniels’ condition.
“His ankles were swollen really bad,” Judah said.
For 15 minutes, the UH-1N helicopter hovered 20 to 30 feet above the climbers and Judah.
Daniels and his friend were hoisted up to the helicopter followed by Judah.
The Fairchild 36th Rescue Flight has made 521 “saves” since 1971, including the rescue Wednesday, Lee said.
A save is considered a successful rescue in which victims are found alive and taken to a hospital.
The 36th Rescue Flight serves two roles. Crews work with Fairchild’s Survival School and also may be called upon to perform air rescue missions between Seattle and Great Falls, Mont.
“Mistakes happen,” Lee said. “That’s why we’re here.”
, DataTimes