Told this story on here before. Been a lot of years but today I’m reminded to be extra thankful to these 4 guys who flew into the teeth of it.


Found an old picture of the boat

Holy cow that is some incredible flying !
Glad you made it out of there Jarl !!

That is an awesome story. Highly skilled, brave men risking their lives to rescue others and getting everyone back safely...awesome.

After spending a little time around the islands, this hits home way more then it would have without the time I spent on the water out there. They put it on the line to get you out of there. I am glad I never had to go through that. How long was it from when the FV went down until you were in the Chopper? Be Safe

We were in the raft 2 hours. It was bitter cold. Single digit temps. We were certain that they wouldn’t show up . 90 knots =103 mph. Whitewater rafting in December : )

Survival suits ??

Yes. Fortunately had them all laid out beforehand. 2 of them got holes from beating ice. We had to beat a foot of ice off the raft canister with our fists. Had the luxury of rare December daylight

Man that must have been a nightmare ! Any hypothermia ?

Must have been quite the ordeal
Just wondering why you would go out with a forecast of weather like that.

That is unreal. Two hours had to seem like forever. I saw video that Steve took of a Coast Guard chopper landing on the a sinking cargo ship. The boat lost power and hit bottom and broke in half. They came in to pick guys off and when they went to take off they hooked a ski on the rail and it tipped them over the side into the water. The Coast Guard guys all got out, due to their training. The guys they just picked up didn't get out. That was out by Dutch Harbor. I can not remember the name of the boat.

Everyone refused treatment but I think the captain and myself were mildly hypothermic . Immediately upon landing they asked us and all replied no. Capt had to pee in a bottle right away and then they gave us all blankets and coffee and sat us around a big table to get the story. 2 hours of interrogation and they said you’re free to go. Nobody had wallets or even shoes and wouldn’t give us a ride. Finally a civilian offered a ride to a store in town and we got there right at closing. Girls kept it opened and gave us anything we needed.

Boco we were on our way home from the Bering Sea. Forecast that morning was for NW 45. Plenty doable It was 3rd day of a 4 day trip. Normally take the weather that you get and adjust accordingly.

How the heck did you launch a raft with 90 kt winds ?
Just let it float off when the boat rolled ??

Boat was at 90 degrees when we finally hit the release mechanism and the canister rolled into the water and the wind immediately blew it out to the end of the painter line. It inflated upside down. The boat swung around and the raft was then near the stern. My friend Spencer was first one to it and was able to climb up and flip it over like they teach us in survival class. We all made it into the raft but the line was tangled in the rigging and we couldn’t find the raft knife. Someone came up with a knife and we started cutting lines until we hit the right one.

Lots of luck involved that day !!

That's one heck of a story. Glad everybody survived it.

Yes! They said they were getting saltwater at 400 feet : )

I can believe that with that much wind.

Thank God for autopilot and autonomous hovering ability in the Jayhawk

I cannot imagine the finesse they have to make it work

I found it interesting that after a 26 minute hover the LT turned over control to the AC.. My bet is he was mentally and physically drained at that point.

With little or no outside reference points it gets impossible to know if you are moving...or even upright. Some great training and discipline to believe what your instruments are telling you in a situation like that.

Spatial disorientation is just a heartbeat away.