Air Rescue Association - Typical Local Base Rescue

The alarm bell rings. There is no indication that this one is to be different from most of the other 250 scrambles of the year. The pilot starts the H-43B; the Firefighters climb aboard donning their asbestos clothing, the crew chief readies the fire suppression kit (FSK) for the helicopter hook-up.

(Elapsedtime--one minute.) The H-43B crew is airborne; the FSK is slung beneath on the cargo hook; and the fire-fighting rescue team is ready for action.

The helicopter proceeds to cross the inside runway, using care to avoid interference with the T-37 traffic using that runway. Tower Traffic Control clears Rescue to cross the inside, and advises the T-38 solo single-engine emergency (one engine out) is on initial approach to Runway One-Seven Right. Lieutenant Fred Glover acknowledges, for now the Rescue crew has visual contact. The pitch and pattern of the T-38 looks normal----but WAIT----the landing gear isn't fully down!

(Hope he remembers the emergency gear down procedure!) "Say Keith, that boy is turning an awful low base leg------let's GO------he can't help but CRASH!!")

The Rescue crew is now fully in action. The T-38 is on the ground. Parts are flying. The dust is thick! (There's a spot that looks good for the Fire Suppression Kit)---"Let's set her down!" (Just like the training fires.)

The Firefighters deploy the hose of the FSK, help the student pilot away from his aircraft, and smother the smoke just starting around the battery compartment of the T-38.

Lieutenant Keith H. Ricks, the helicopter copilot, is administering first aid to the injured student. Lt. Grover, the pilot, lands the H-43B and, in seconds, the injured student is aboard and on the way to the Base Hospital---the short hop to the hospital takes forty-five seconds.

The control tower has notified the hospital, and Lt. Ricks, with the injured student, is met at the Emergency Room door.

(Total elapsed time since the crash is now three minutes.)----Nothing to do now but retrieve the Firefighters, Airmen Robert L. Duncan and Charles L. Middleton. The Rescue crew chief, SSgt Mixon, is getting the second FSK ready---the crash convoy is arriving at the crash site---so, back to the alert room!

Training and efficiency are fully in evidence, as demonstrated by the prompt and efficient manner in which this Rescue crew performed. And this mission is a classic example of what led to the procurement of the H-43B rescue system----a system which involves carrying Firefighters and fire-suppressing foam to an aircraft crash, laying down of a path to the downed aircraft while the rotor downwash assists in keeping the path open, at the same time supplying breathable fresh air to both the downed aircrew and the rescuing Firefighters.

This mission actually occurred, at Webb AFB, Texas, on 2 July 1962.
Detachment 32, Central Air Rescue Center, is a typical illustration of a
rescue-motivated unit. Rescue crews willingly put up with a lengthy and
rigorous daily alert-duty schedule; the mission always is placed above
personal desires and comforts.

The rescue mission is not simple, but a mission that involves long
periods of suspenseful waiting. The opportunity to effect a rescue will
eventually present itself. If every effort is made to maintain a ready alert
status, when the situation arises, a timely rescue will be effected. This
occasional missionalso acts as a unit revitalization---the feeling of self
satisfaction emerges from the knowledge that all aspects of the mission
were accomplished in the best possible manner. Professionalism is the
keynote!

The dedicated personnel of the Air Rescue Service who man the
Local Base Rescue detachments are the men who carry on the time-
honored tradition: "These things we do...that others may live."

MISSION NARRATIVE, DET 32, CARC, #249, 2 JULY 1962
     On control tower notification, the H-43B was scrambled at 1854, on a T-38 single-engine emergency. The rescue crew commander observed the impending crash and was almost at the crash site as the T-38 came to rest. The crew chief, at the alert pad, recorded the time of the crash as 1907. Mission 249 was terminated at 1918, when the alert crew returned to the scramble pad. In the eleven-minute interval between crash and ramp-out, the H-43 crew had assisted the injured student pilot away from the aircraft, applied foam to the smoking area of the crash, gave first aid attention to a cut arm, evacuated the injured student pilot into the hospital, returned to the crash site to pick up the Firefighter crew members, and returned to the alert pad, where the crew chief had the second fire suppression kit ready for the next emergency. The crash occurred one mile from the approach end of the runway.
     Foam was used on the aircraft because smoke was detected emitting from beneath the engine compartments and from the radio-battery area. Smoke quickly diminished as the smothering foam thwarted a highly probable fire. The foam was applied within one minute of the crash.
Alert crew:
     Pilot:              Lt. William F. Glover
     Co-pilot:        Lt. Keith H. Ricks
     Firefighters: A/1c Robert L. Duncan
                           A/2c Charles L. Middleton
     Crew Chief: SSgt Morris L. Mixon