A crew looking for a hiker who was missing in some mountains in California survived after their Navy MH-60 Knighthawk helicopter crashed along the Nevada state line. both the searchers and the hiker were rescued over the weekend.
The Associated Press reports the four person helicopter crew escaped injury but had to spend Friday night in the rugged wilderness before they were rescued Saturday from a ridge in the White Mountains east of Yosemite National Park, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada.
The Navy is investigating the cause of the crash reported about 5 p.m. Friday, The helicopter had been helping with the search for a lost hiker in the Inyo National Forest. The crash occurred at 11,700 feet in “very rugged terrain” in the national forest. A second Knighthawk helicopter left the air station after the crash and found the crew but was unable to safely rescue them.
A California National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopter that had been on standby for firefighting was deployed to rescue the crew memebers. CH-47 Chinooks perform better at high altitudes.
Ronald Bolen, an Oklahoma University professor who was reported missing last week on a trail to Boundary Peak, was found by hikers late Saturday or Sunday in good condition and transported for medical treatment, the Mono County sheriff’s office said. Bolen was dehydrated but otherwise in good shape.
[A Chinook CH-47 similar to this helicopter responded on Saturday to a downed Navy MH-60 Knighthawk helicopter. Steve Ranson / LVN file]
images from Lahontan Valley News FB
