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To add realism, no interpreters were present, so a language barrier existed on the crash site. While Canadians and Americans have no trouble communicating, most would admit that their Russian language ability was lacking. However, common purpose, similar training, gestures, and demonstrations allowed everyone to communicate.
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| U.S. team members remove a victim to the evacuation center. |
On the final day, aircrews faced heavy ground fog in the crash site area. As patches cleared, SAR personnel loaded the victims aboard helicopters and moved them to a Gimli World War II-era hangar that served as a temporary medical center. There, medical personnel stabilized them before evacuation to Winnipeg.
Commenting on the success of the exercise, Brig. Gen. Stephen Korenek, Commander, Alaska Army National Guard, said:
What we’ve discovered is that our combined team effort (among the three nations) is substantially more effective, because we each bring something different in techniques and technologies to an event. We share a clear and obvious tenacity and determination to succeed together. Our relationship has matured to the point that our orientation is to cooperation, trust in each other’s competencies, and a mature willingness to ask each other for help.
During the Cold War years, one of our fears was that we would experience the loss of a commercial airliner in the high Arctic and have no practical plan or methods for survivor rescue. There are a number of examples where each country experienced a particular incident or event where they made their best single effort to come to the rescue of their own countrymen. Certainly, each nation’s individual rescue attempt was its best effort, but the team approach has clearly proven its value.
Lasting friendships build cooperation and enhance peace. The common Pacific waters between Russia, Alaska, and Canada are the pathways for a friendship that endures.
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Russian Air Force rescuers tend to a “seriously wounded” crash victim.
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Japan Self-Defense Force members, Lt. Col. Enta Sugihara and Maj. Takeshi Nakazawa, observed cooperation among search and rescue forces of Canada, Russia, and the United States during Arctic SAREX 2002.
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Search and Rescue Aircraft Involved in SAREX 2002
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In the foreground, Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant prepares to lift off, while a Canadian Forces CH-113 Labrador helicopter arrives with more rescuers aboard.
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Arctic Search and Rescue Exercise 2002 (SAREX 02) involved the first Arctic SAREX for Canada’s CH-149 Cormorant SAR helicopter, the star of the airlift. It has three powerful engines, long-range capability, and a large cargo area. Its ice protection system allows it to operate in continuous icing conditions, and its ability to withstand high winds make it ideal for Canada’s demanding geography and climate. It has rear-ramp access, space for carrying up to 12 stretchers, and plenty of room for SAR technicians to attend their patients. It has two hoists – one internal and one external. The Canadian Forces expect to have a fleet of 15 Cormorant helicopters by the end of 2003.
Other Canadian helicopters involved in SAREX 2002 included the CH-146 Griffon, the CC-130 Hercules, and the CH-113 Labrador. The CH-146 provided a reliable airlift for casualty evacuation, logistic transport, and search and rescue. The CC-130 provided critical airlift for SAR technicians and their gear and equipment necessary for the rescue mission. The CH-113 Labrador, a twin-engine helicopter, has long been the workhorse of SAR efforts. The CH-113 has a watertight hull for marine landings, rescue hoist, cargo hoist, and an extended long-range fuel tank. Some of Canada’s most intense SAR missions have involved the CH-113.
Alaska Air National Guard’s Pararescue Team, along with other support members, arrived in Gimli on an HC-130N Hercules rescue tanker from Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage, Alaska. The Pararescue Team operates six HH-60G Pavehawk (aerial refuelable) helicopters and four HC-130 aircraft and has responsibility for the landmass of Alaska above the 58th Parallel, an area about two-thirds the size of the continental U.S. The Team responds to more than 100 missions annually.
The Alaska Army National Guard aircraft included a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter with forward looking infrared and an external rescue hoist; two C-23B+ Sherpa fixed-wing aircraft capable of carrying patient litters, passengers, or freight; and a C-12F Huron Beechcraft executive passenger turboprop aircraft.
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