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Little Bear climbing accident and rescue helicopter crash

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Allen Hill · · FIve Points, Colorado and Pine · Joined Jun 2004 · Points: 1,410

Sounds like a real epic is shaping up down there. I hope everyone is ok. I hope what I've heard is way off.

Erik W · · Santa Cruz, CA · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 280

This report has troopers saying no one was hurt in the crash. Hopefully that's the case.

kktv.com/home/headlines/964…

Julius Beres · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 364
9news.com/news/article.aspx…

ALAMOSA - A helicopter made a hard landing on one of the most
difficult mountains to climb in Colorado on Tuesday night.

It happened on Little Bear Peak, which is near Alamosa.

It reportedly a Chinook helicopter from Buckley Air Force Base that
was there to rescue a climber.

Buckley Air Force Base says the hard landing happened around 7 p.m.
when the tail of the chopper hit part of the mountain. The pilot was
able to get the helicopter down and no one on board was injured.

Another helicopter from Buckley was sent to pick up the stranded crew.

There is no word on the condition of the hiker or if that person was
still being rescued.

Little Bear Peak is at the end of the Sangre de Cristo Range and is
just southwest of Blanca Peak. It is in the Rio Grande National
Forest, on the border between Alamosa and Costilla Counties. Little
Bear tops out at 14,037 feet above sea level.

(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)
slim · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 1,103

when i was in college 4 of us were trying to do little bear via an un-documented route on the west face. we were about 2/3 of the way up when one of my friends was hit by rockfall while belaying. broke a bunch of ribs, ruptured his spleen, etc. we managed to get him down, and then a jeep club at the lake took him down to an ambulance. total ordeal.

hope things turn out ok up there, it is a rough place to be when things are going bad.

YDPL8S · · Santa Monica, Ca. · Joined Aug 2003 · Points: 540

The Channel 7 website has some more info.

thedenverchannel.com/news/2…

My condolences go out to his family, way too young. Rest In Peace

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

The Hourglass does not sound trivial as an obstacle. I hear it can be slick and wet.

Buff Johnson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 1,145

Allen, there were SAR personnel in the heli when the rotor hit; all are okay.

The mtn climber is being recovered.

Jason Gilbert · · Kenai, AK · Joined Nov 2002 · Points: 320

Just got these pics from a friend of mine

Little Bear Crash
Little Bear Crash 2

Glad their all OK

Buff Johnson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 1,145

Using military air is actually pretty common in SAR; it's already allocated budgetarily, it allows for field training that the military needs, and offers better operational means to transport personnel in a rapid manner as well as reducing the risk to rescuers by transport off the mountain of either the injured party, the rescuers, and/or both. Granted, in this case, a heli-accident happened, that will be reviewed and discussed.

Overall, using air support is pretty common, typically used as vehicle to move equip/personnel, short-haul, and/or paramedic service just as an ambulance.

Not to discount your point though, using air support is a high risk of any SAR operation.

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

I do have a bit of experience with helos and yes air support is crucial to rescue efforts.
I also agree that this type of stuff is crucial to training etc.

John Dill '82- #1 no one else gets hurt

His word is OK in my book- the poor bastard was prolly already dead.

Scott Krankkala · · Flagstaff, AZ · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 212

I was on the rescue and most of the reports I have heard are in-accurate. Overall the situation was very unfortunate but it was remarkable that the chinook was able to thread the needle and make a safe crash landing. Impressive work by the pilot for saving lives through extreme skill after losing a rotor. Hearing from one of the rescuers that was in the crash and immediately after hiked to the victim and bivied at the site, the helicopter was attempting to offload the rescuers onto the ridge (at this point he was assumed to be alive) and a draft sent it into the cliff. We even found rotor fragments at 13,000 feet over 1000 feet above the crash site.

Another photo of the crashed Chinook

One report mentioned the climber losing control of the rope on rappel but we saw no lines above and it appears he must have stepped on a loose rock or blown a foothold while crossing the hourglass. Rescuers and the body were transported via Blackhawk back to base.

Hampton Uzzelle · · Tucson, Arizona · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 5

Wow, Lucky no one got hurt. Sorry to hear about the climber. Anyone know what happens to the chopper now?

tenpins · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 30

yes. in the distance from that last picture you can see a tan tent. That is the security detail that was sent to secure the chinook wreckage. The soldiers on that detail told me that they would start moving equipment in today to begin disassembly as soon as possible. It will be taken apart and flown out.

Crisco Jackass · · Grand Junction, CO · Joined May 2008 · Points: 0

Not to criticize, wouldn't be my place, just curious: Why send in such a large helicopter, is a Chinook all the more stable with counter rotors, more so than a Huey or a Black Hawk?

"Glad" this tragedy was limited to the initial party, could have been real ugly.

Buff Johnson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2005 · Points: 1,145

It's actually a good question.

The Chinook is quite capable for Colorado's altitude and carrying squads and equipment. Maybe someone else can follow up but I believe it was invaluable in transport & extracting that difficult car rescue off of Pike's Peak a few years back. The 10th Mtn depiction of a rescue in Afghanistan used it as well.

The Huey is ineffective for this area and I believe is out of service anyway. You might see a smaller craft in a search which will more than likely be an OH-58 Kiowa.

The Blackhawk is my favorite, though can't carry near as much as a Chinook, nor does it have the altitude range (which can limit gear & personnel as well), it works very effectively in search and then fast insertion for hasty technical & medical; and can possibly be versatile enough to forgo a landing zone and use the penetrator. I believe it can also be actually designed as a paramedic craft in combat zones; which brings another.

FFL's baby, the AS 350 AStar and their teams. This service has made a difference in many lives. From more of a true ambulance paramedic/flight nurse to transport of rescue personnel that can operate at 14'er altitude.

The short-haul I have no experience, the Blackhawk can perform these, and the park service contracts out to high-performance craft; I don't know the preferred craft in these. Most of Colorado has topography that doesn't suit the risk of this operation that couldn't be as well served by ground teams; whereas say the Tetons, this is a bread butter for the short-haul, peaks that come right off the valley floor make this transport incredibly effective.

YDPL8S · · Santa Monica, Ca. · Joined Aug 2003 · Points: 540

I was an air traffic controller in the Army and was good friends with lots of chopper pilots and crew chiefs. One pilot I talked to (originally based out of Fort Lewis Washington and a Congressional Medal of Honor winner) said that he preferred the Chinook in high altitude rescues for precisely the reason of what happened here. If one rotor fails, they've got a better chance of putting it down safely with one still operational. This guy had done numerous rescues on Rainier and even had to pull a Jet Ranger (military name Kiowa) off of a glacier high on the mountain. They just removed the blades and slid it in the back.

Martha Perantoni · · Portland, OR · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 15

This brings to mind the tragedy last summer of the Black Hawk that went down near the summit of Massive, I believe it was. My nephew is a gunner on a BH and knew the guys who were killed in that crash. He'd been out on BH training missions on 14ers during November of 2008. I understand that, given air and air currents are so unstable above 12,500 during the heat of summer, it's believed that the air mass was so different towards the summit that the chopper lost loft and crashed. I would tend to agree, then, that the Chinook is the better choice, at least for summer Rocky Mountain rescues.

I'm grateful the SAR crews were uninjured but my heart goes out to the mom who got the call about her son.

tenpins · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 30

we have had UH 60s land on the summit of Pikes Peak, but they have to drop weight and be light on fuel. Chinooks come right up, and yes, the kid that drove off Pikes Peak a few years ago was transported from the summit in a Chinook. A UH 60 had initially come in (I dont know what variant it was) and the pilot was unable/unwilling to make the moves for the hoist operation, bailed, and called for the chinook.(it took a enough time for the chinook to arrive that they were able to get the kid to the summit)

The FFL helicopters have an operational ceiling of 30,000 feet. They are amazing aircraft and the pilots are highly trained and skilled.

The UH 60 that flew us out on wednesday was a Lima variant. there was an Alpha there as well that could not land up there. The Lima was on 60% power on approach and landing.

EJH · · Menifee, CA · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 890

I fly daily in an A-Star and love how they handle altitude. Flying in the mountains is a skill that takes time to learn in any helicopter. Understanding the wind currents and how to change depending on when and where you are is very important. I'm glad to hear no one else got hurt during this SAR.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Colorado
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