Helicopter

More Alaska citizen soldiers are getting ready to go to Iraq. Twenty-six members of the Alaska Army National Guard's B Company, 2-07 Aviation Battalion will leave for pre-deployment training in Texas on Sunday. After that they will go to Iraq, where they will fly their UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters transporting troops and equipment from camp to camp. Soldiers from the company, known as the “Arctic Cowboys,” hail from across Alaska, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Bethel and Quinhagak.

by The Associated Press Sunday, July 25, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A Coast Guard crew evacuated a 55-year-old man on Sunday from an oil tanker 200 miles south of Sitka. The Coast Guard says Winfred Opare reportedly suffered from chest pains while aboard the 905-foot U.S.-flagged tanker Alaskan Explorer. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter hoisted him up and flew him to Ketchikan, where he was taken to the hospital.

by Channel 2 News staff Thursday, July 22, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska's congressional delegation has sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, requesting funding to replace a lost Coast Guard helicopter. The MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter assigned to Air Station Sitka crashed earlier this month off La Push, Wash., killing three crewmen. "Alaska has more coastline than any other state in the nation. The loss of a helicopter from Air Station Sitka reduces the ability of the Coast Guard to respond to maritime emergencies and places Alaska's commercial and recreational boating public at increased risk," the delegation said in the letter.

by Channel 2 News staff Thursday, July 15, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- One of the three Coast Guardsmen killed in a helicopter crash last week was laid to rest in the national cemetery at Fort Richardson Thursday. Family members and Coast Guardsmen paid their last respects to 33-year-old Aviation Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Brett Banks. He and two other crewmen were killed when their MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter went down in the waters off La Push, Wash. Banks leaves behind a wife and two children.

by The Associated Press Saturday, July 10, 2010 SITKA, Alaska -- The Coast Guard will host a memorial service Tuesday at Air Station Sitka for the crew of a helicopter that crashed off the Washington coast. The Sitka-based crew was flying home Wednesday from Astoria, Ore., when the helicopter crashed off La Push, Wash. Lt. Lance D. Leone of Ventura, Calif., survived the crash. Killed were Lt. Sean D. Krueger of Seymour, Conn., and crewmen Adam C. Hoke of Great Falls, Mont.

by Christine Kim Friday, July 9, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Coast Guard says two of the four major pieces of a Coast Guard helicopter that crashed off La Push, Wash. Wednesday were recovered Friday morning, but fog in the area is temporarily suspending further salvage operations. Three of the four Sitka-based crewmen who were aboard the helicopter were killed in the crash near Washington's James Island. Witnesses say they saw the low-flying chopper hit power lines in the area.

by Jason Lamb and Rebecca Palsha Thursday, July 8, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The U.S. Coast Guard has released the names of the four crewmen aboard the Sitka-based Coast Guard helicopter that went down off La Push, Wash. Wednesday, killing three. Aircraft commander Lt. Sean Krueger, 33, from Seymour, Conn. leaves behind a wife and three children. Leaving behind one child is Adam Hoke, 40, from Great Falls, Mont. He was serving as an aviation maintenance technician at the time of the crash.

by Christine Kim and Rebecca Palsha Wednesday, July 7, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A helicopter crash Wednesday morning claimed the lives of three Coast Guard crewmen based in Sitka. The Coast Guard says four men were aboard the MH-60 Jayhawk when it went down off James Island near La Push, Wash. It's standard procedure for Coast Guard crews to check in every 15 minutes when they're flying. When the helicopter's crew didn't check in at 9:30 a.m. or 9:45 a.m., the Coast Guard had already launched a rescue effort.

by Channel 2 News staff Wednesday, June 30, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A private helicopter rescued a fisherman stranded on a sinking boat Wednesday morning. The Anchorage Fire Department received a call around 7:30 a.m. that a Bayliner was sinking around the Birchwood-Peters Creek area. Officials said they were unsure whether the incident was beyond the range of their water rescue service, so they put a call out for any additional support. A good Samaritan answered the call and the victim was pulled out of the water.