A commercial fisherman who suffered a severe leg injury was hoisted aboard a Coast Guard helicopter on Wednesday, Dec. 30, about 80 miles northeast of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea, and later flown to Cold Bay for a Guardian flight to Anchorage for a higher level of care.
Lt. Wes Jones, aircraft commander for the case, said it took the combined teamwork of the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley, crew aboard the fishing vessel Magnus Martens and the 17th District command center to get the injured man on a Guardian Flight aircraft to Anchorage for the care needed.
The crew of the Alex Haley, based out of Kodiak, received initial word of the injured man while on patrol in the Bering Sea in the area of Unimak Island. The man had been injured aboard the fishing vessel Magnus Martens and suffered a severe leg injury north of Unimak Island on Slime Bank. The man was initially taken to Dutch Harbor, but needed a higher level of care and weather conditions did not allow a contracted provider to pick him up there, so the Coast Guard flew him aboard an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to Cold Bay for the transfer to Anchorage.
Weather conditions at the time of the hoist were 5-knot winds and 6-foot visibility.