Helicopter rescues teen from Skokomish River

lizzieluvsmark said on August 21, 2010 at 8:24 AM

That was the Highland 20 Fire Hand crew...(my hubby runs it, the one on the left) to help the rescue. HIGHLANDS you ROCK!! They are one of the best 20 person wild land fire crew. I am so thankful that the young lady made it out alive.

capitolforest said on August 19, 2010 at 4:08 PM

Shame stupid people have to put brave people in such danger.

bt123 said on August 19, 2010 at 9:31 AM

Now for the dissenting comment: having worked in and around helicopters for 10 years and in mountain rescue for over two decades, it appears that this rescue was executed very carelessly. Granted the report may not be entirely accurate, but if it is everybody within shrapnel distance of the chopper could easily have been seriously injured or worse. Neither the subject's life nor limb(s) were threatened and the ground crew was already in place to haul the subject with a very safe rigging system. The air crew didn't communicate with the ground team(s) and flew into a "box" with the only exit due aft; completely blind. Any wind shear, up/down drafts or mechanical flight-equipment interruption and this mission could have ended very badly, including the loss of the multimillion dollar helicopter and all of the flight training hours we taxpayers have funded. While in a combat situation such a risk might well be justified, even a very skilled civilian pilot would very likely be grounded

larry3985 said on August 19, 2010 at 8:06 AM

47 years ago Seattle Mountain Rescue had to dig one of our party out of the exact same place. At the time I was only 15. There were 6 of us in the rafting party. It was spring 1963 and the river was pretty high because of spring thaw. We were rafting the river when we went over a small falls about 100 yards above the bridge and flipped the raft. After the raft flipped we had to climb out of the canyon. One of our party, Dolly Hammond, got about 50 feet up the canyon wall, slipped and went all the way back down to the river. Broke her leg in a couple places just above the the knee. There's an acre of trees missing along the top of the cliff where they landed the helicopter. I just thought this was rather ironic. Same river, same bridge and same cliff. Those chopper guys are really great aren't they!

ss427 said on August 19, 2010 at 7:50 AM

Hey newlogin! Here's your chance! Jump on my grammar and proof reading skills.

ss427 said on August 19, 2010 at 7:45 AM

King 5, here's a story line. I'm sure you thought of it. Interview the helicopter crew and ask them about the rescue and the training they've had. Also ask if there's was more to the steady flying than drop-dead perfection. Ask if the aircraft was computer controlled. Cruise ships hardly ever anchor these days. A computer holds them in one spot. They don't tear-up the bottom either. And look how it's even being done with oil well rigs. Er, not a good example.

rhearn4 said on August 19, 2010 at 7:26 AM

I am a pilot. This is one very fancy piece of flying. The whole crew should be awarded medals and offered retirement at double pay. Absolutely incredible flying.

riverman said on August 18, 2010 at 5:27 PM

gotta give a big hell yeah to the pilot!!!

eightwrong said on August 18, 2010 at 2:19 PM

Good job, pilot. Steady as a rock.

zaxxon7469 said on August 18, 2010 at 11:49 AM

Good Job Navy. Glad to hear the girl is safe now.

ss427 said on August 18, 2010 at 9:23 AM

Oops, my bad. One reader, not two. So newlogin86, I'm outta here. I have a life. Where's yours?

ss427 said on August 18, 2010 at 9:13 AM

Oops, forgot. Speaking of gravity, newlogin86 is wrong. Gravity is not the same all over the planet. Dense material below the surface makes it vary, but not nearly as much as the Sun and Moon. They are what cause the tides on Earth, and those can only happen when gravity is changed/reduced alternately over the face of the planet. They are also somewhat responsible for another minor manifestation. It's known as Continental Drift. You might have heard of it.

ss427 said on August 18, 2010 at 9:05 AM

Well, here we have it. Two readers that are driven to criticize. One about a typo and the other about gravity physics. You guys are soooooooo predictable. Hint: Most of us got it without your help.

krisbrood said on August 18, 2010 at 9:02 AM

King 5 don't your writers have spell check? I know your writers need to get a story out quickly but it doesn't look good when words are spelled incorrectly.

newlogin86 said on August 18, 2010 at 8:35 AM

"truthdector said on August 18, 2010 at 6:30 AM That bridge claims may lives, it's a wide open invitation to death, the cliffs next to it are impossible to walk on, the gravity it too strong." LOL had to laugh... Gravity too strong?? Gravity is the same everywhere on the planet. Unless you decide to scale Everest, then your weight may fluctuate! Duh!

newlogin86 said on August 18, 2010 at 8:33 AM

Great grammar again by ol King 5 writers.." the crew hovered over the river than sent their rescuer into the water." THEN not THAN. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Glad they got her out

ss427 said on August 18, 2010 at 8:05 AM

Yeah, the girl sounded very lucky to be alive, and of course the real story here is the pilot. There must be a way to have him/her hovering over me at all times. Been known to do crazy stuff. (still do) Like the times we would skip school back in the '60's and drive up to the trestle. We'd drop rocks from it and time the drop @ seven seconds for them to hit the water. What's the velocity at that instant? Then there was the railroad tie. We loaded one into the trunk, drove to the center and let her go. You could here the boom all over the canyon. The river water was blown onto the bank. Only the rocks were left. And the railroad tie turned to powder. Not a piece bigger than dust was left. Fun. Great pilot!

skok_cush said on August 18, 2010 at 7:24 AM

this is an old Simpson railroad trestle from the golden days of logging. built in 1929ish i believe. there is a sister trestle that is blocked off to the public fpr obvious reasons. . . . .cliff's are basically vertical, everyone likes to go under the trestle and explore. nothin wrong with the trestle, just the city folk arent use to not having Guard rails and Handi-Capable stairs. . . . .tho it sounds as if they were down on the canyon floor next to the river hiking. . . . . .and slipped.

truthdector said on August 18, 2010 at 5:30 AM

That bridge claims may lives, it's a wide open invitation to death, the cliffs next to it are impossible to walk on, the gravity it too strong.

mrroper said on August 18, 2010 at 3:02 AM

No way, there had to have been more than just 2' on either side of the blades. I can't believe the pilot would take a chance like that, I bet it was more like 20'

riverman said on August 18, 2010 at 2:55 AM

thumbs up to the very skilled pilot!!!

bsmods said on August 17, 2010 at 11:24 PM

This is a scary area. I almost went in years ago as well. Not a place to be climbing around.

yogibear said on August 17, 2010 at 7:10 PM

I pray she will be okay.