15 | Rescued by the Sky
A series of decisions in a single moment can create a ripple effect of outcomes that none expected, and only few have prepared for. When your life is on the line, how quickly you act can propel you down a path of sufferage, and by simply accepting death is a sentence that will take you to your grave.
Standing on a boat slowly sinking in between towering waves of frozen water, a mayday call and the coast guard struggling to get a life line tossed against the mighty wind into your grip. Attempt after attempt, these professionals are failing, and your mind begins to wander toward acceptance of fate.
All the while, the solemn face with a worried smile and big, innocent eyes stare up at you. This face is the reason you are out here, the reason you called for help in the first place. This face is the reason you will fight until the biting water pulls you under. For this is the face of your 6 year old son.
Welcome back to Tragedy with a View
Source: coming back alive by spike walker
https://cgaviationhistory.org/sar/the-bluebird-rescue/
Jim blades moved to Alaska in 1982 where he worked a variety of jobs because he was extremely handy.
He had a history of working in timber and because he could drive the heavy equipment and also repair the equipment he found work relatively easily. If anything was broken that’s where he ended up really finding work and a job.
In Alaska at this time residents were allowed to salvage 10,000 board feet of free timber per person per year, and what this means is that a board, cut from a tree that is 1 inch thick and 12 inches wide, and then measured as 12 inches long for the foot.
so Jim eventually went into business himself, and built his own sawmill and cut his own lumber and build his own house.
Now, his house is not the house that you’re thinking of. he built and lived on a floating home 40 miles from town in a place that had nearly no radio contact no neighbors and no emergency care.
The raft his home was floating on was about 25 feet wide and 40 feet long and also had a shop and sauna built into it.
He was able to rig the sauna to runoff of freshwater that was piped from a nearby creek, and a generator ran the shed. All of these buildings on the raft were on top of skids, so that way if he decided that he wanted to stay on land instead of on the water, he would be able to pull those off of the raft.
Jim also owned a boat which was 26 feet long and he named it the bluebird and it was this boat that would be used to go fishing as well as tow his Homestead through the water to new locations.
Jim, originally grew up in Wyoming, and on a visit there he met his future wife, Jill. And he tried really hard to kind of scare her off and told her that she had good teeth, and that they would be good to help soften the hides of animals that he trapped and killed, and be able to repurpose them as clothing, blankets and rugs.
And he also told her that Alaska was extremely harsh, and they pretty much had the same weather all year round. The only difference was the temperature of the rain..
After three months they got married and eventually they had two boys named Clint and Kurt and they settled in near Sitka, Alaska.
They were so remote that whenever they left their home and were on the land, they carried a rifle with them because brown bears were prevalent and they often enjoyed seeing a family of sea otters play near one of the streams they stayed near to pump water from for their sauna.
Day of December 10, 1987
Around lunch on December 9 Jim and his six year old son Clint went out on the water to do some fishing for salmon and cod.
It was only 3 PM, but because of the way the sunrises and sets in Alaska the sun was already setting and with reefs and islands and rocks kind of encompassing the area that they were in and the darkness Jim decided that they would wait, especially because it would take them about two hours to get to town to drop off their load of fish and then they would still have to go home.
They didn’t typically stay out overnight, but because of how long they were out there Jim decided that they would stay the night and then head back home the following morning and radioed Jill to let her know not to expect them home until the next day.
And this is a little note that is kind of mind-boggling to me, but apparently the waves were swelling close 20 feet high, or 6 meters, but there were no whitecaps on them so Jim wasn’t worried. The average wave swell in the waters near Sitka Alaska is around 8 feet, or 2.5 meters, and when severe storms pummel the area, waves can grow larger than 46 feet, or 14 meters.
Wave height is not the only consideration for rough seas, you also need to pay attention to how close the waves are together, which is more telling of the severity of a storm.
Storm information
On the water, the waves went from being calm and steady to aggravated as the gust of winds increased from 35 mph up to 70 mph or 56 km per hour to 113kph without much warning at all.
There was an emergency radio broadcast explaining the storm that was coming in and the location it was going to be hitting and that those in the area are to take shelter. Unfortunately Jim missed this broadcast and so he basically had no idea that a storm is coming.
Immediately, upon seeing the waves pick up, knowing that he had to act, Jim told Clint to put on his survival suit which is a a type of waterproof dry suit intended to protect the wearer from hypothermia if immersed in cold water or otherwise exposed after abandoning a vessel, especially in the open ocean.
Survival suits are typically made out of neoprene, a completely waterproof fabric, which insulates the wearer and protects them from hypothermia. The suit has oversized boots to be able to fit over a variety of feet and boot sizes and some have gloves already attached. They contain a special waterproof zipper that zips up the front and seals with a flap tight against the neck, right under the chin. If the zipper is not properly maintained, the suit is useless as it will allow water in.
Jim pulled up the anchor, and started to maneuver the bluebird out away from the shore, and the rocks, where he was trying to be sure they wouldn’t get pushed into due to the storm.
The blizzard had already started dumping snow and was blowing the wind and waves so hard that Jim lost track of the shoreline.
A moment later, the bluebird collided with some jagged rocks, and Jim could hear the crunching of the wood, and, knowing that he was in trouble, he threw his boat into reverse, and started trying to move away from the rocks, again to which he then collided with a cliff of Saint Lazaria island. Again reversing he was finally able to maneuver the bluebird into open water and didn’t even bother going to check the damage that had been done to his boat. He knew that it was going to sink.
Jim, looks at Clint and this is when he called for help, which is the term Mayday and the US Coast Guard in Sitka, answered immediately. He admits later that if Clint wasn’t with him he likely wouldn’t have called for help.
18 minutes after the call, a crew was in the air heading their way to Jim and Clint rescue. They flew an HH-3F pelican helicopter, which is also called a sea king, and it has twin engines, fully retractable landing gear, and was considered amphibious, meaning it was perfect for the Alaskan wilderness.
On board was pilot commander John Whiddon, co-pilot lutenit Greg breithaupt, Carl Saylor to operate the hoist, mark mylne to operate avonics, and Jeff Tunks as the rescue swimmer. Jeff had been the first on board the helo, and while waiting for the others, he felt a gust of wind slam into the side and the drag the helo several feet across the tarmac.
Inside the helo, they encountered Heavy snow and severe turbulence as soon as they took off.
Because of the snow and ice their radar went out at their normal elevation of 300 feet, and they had to lower elevation, down to 75 feet, to get it to turn back on.
The wind, gusting at upwards of 90 miles an hour, was so strong that it kept grabbing a hold of the helicopter, and almost like you see him umbrellas, get like blown backwards and up it was like picking up the helicopter, blowing it backwards, and then the wind was sweeping it down towards the waves
Commander Whiddon, who wasn’t even supposed to be on duty that night, and lutenit breithaupt were doing everything that they could, and had basically everything turned on to full power, and the helicopter still was not responding when the wind had grabbed a hold of it. But they faught through.
Finally getting to the location of Jim and Clint, Whiddon started trying to locate them, but the gear they used, specifically the direction finding equipment which will find the radio signal while it’s being used, wasn’t working. After multiple attempts, Jim finally stepped out on his deck and shined his flashlight into the air. For a split second as a wave lifting the bluebird high into the air, Carl saw the light and was able to track them down this way instead of using technology.
Once they were able to somewhat hover over the boat, they realized 2 things: first, that the bluebird was already sitting at a 45° angle and the entire bow was underwater, and second, because the boat was sinking there wasn’t enough room on deck for the basket that Jim and Clint would need to go in for the rescue.
Still, they tried to lower the basket down to them, and in a sudden swoop, a gust of wind raging at 110 mph, swept the helo up, tossed it backward and had it plummeting toward the freezing water.
Somehow, as if every member of the crew accepted what they felt was inevitable, peace came over the helo, it righted itself and they quickly got back to work.
After several attempts to get the basket near to them, Whiddon decided that they would not be able to use the boat as a tool, and they needed Jim and Clint to get up to go into the water.
Jim had already secured Clint in the child’s size survival suit, which was less of a suit and more of a body bag. It had slots for your arms, but the legs was one large section and it was made to attached to an adults survival suit back to front, so a child would be attached to an adult like otters. Adult would be able to lay back, and the child would then be lifted out of the water a bit more. Jim, putting on his survival suit found that his zipper wasn’t working properly and he couldn’t zip it up all the way and seal it at the neck like you’re supposed to be able to, to keep the freezing water out.
Doing exactly what was asked anyways, Jim, attached Clint to himself, and then calmly walked off the side of the boat and into the violent water. Clint, however, was terrified and clutching and trying to hold onto anything he could.
Unfortunately, this didn’t help anymore at first, the wind was so strong that it just pressed jim and Clint against the boat and they had no control to be able to move away.
Still, Whiddon instructed Carl to lower the basket to them, and after 5-6 failed attempts, they knew they needed to try something different. Especially as they watched the bluebird be slip below the surface of the water and into the darkness.
Once in open water, Jim and Clint were continuously pummeled, and kept getting pulled under by the waves. Jim felt his survival suit taking on water and he was scared that the water would cause him to get hypothermia and lose control of his body and not be able to unlatch his son from him before he himself died. But he didn’t want to unlatch Clint from him too early because the waves were so violent he knew he wouldn't be able to keep a hold of him otherwise.
At this time, they decide Jeff needs to get ready to go into the water. Jeff slides the safety strap over his head, which would allow him to be lowered toward the water before raising his arms and sliding out of the strap and into the water. Then, he puts on his snorkel, mask and fins, and slips out the door of the helo and into the open air.
The intention, as Jeff is able to look down and see Jim and Clint directly below him, is to slip into the water, grab ahold of Jim and Clint, swim them to the basket, get them inside and then have them hoisted up to the helo. Once inside the helo, the basket would get dropped back down for him and ta-da, the job would be done.
Quickly, he realizes that this is about to be the ride of a life, as he is now getting whipped around like a cat toy.
The safely strap tightened, and Jeff found himself struggling to release himself into the water. About 100 yards from his view of Jim and Clint, Jeff finally found success and fell into the water. By then, he had lost track of where Jim and Clint were and started frantically looking for them.
In the helo, Whiddon could see that Jeff was turning in circles looking around him, and without having confirmation that Jeff was unable to locate Jim and Clint, he turned the search light to light up Jim and Clint, and Jeff, with no way to communicate with Whiddon, followed the light.
Jeff swam up behind Jim, grabbed ahold of his shoulders and turned him around and came face to face with Clint, who seemed to be so calm despite everything that was going on. When Jim asked if they’d be able to get them out, Jeff replied “no worries, we do this all the time.” But that wasn’t the entire truth. At this time the rescue swimmer program was only 10 months old with the coast guard. In order to become a rescue swimmer, Jeff attended a 4 week long course where those attending at least once a day feared for their life. But these actions is what prepares them to be successful in real life situations. Out of the 35 men who started this training with Jeff, 12 made it to the end.
With Jeff in the water, Carl lowered the basket down, and as Jeff directed Jim and Clint toward it, they were almost withing reach when the wind caught the helo and ripped it away, taking the basket with them. 6 tries later, they finally had success. Jim and Clint were rolled into the basket and lifted into the air and onto the helo. In total, Jim and Clint were in the water for about 40 minutes
3-4 more attempts later, Jeff was also in the basket and getting hoisted back toward the helo. A gust of wind, again, grabbed control of the helo and Whiddon and breithaupt were doing everything they could to fight the wind, and hanging below, as the helo got tossed around, Jeff was getting whipped back and forth and at one point the basket nearly collided with the underside of the helo. Then, those inside heard an explosion. The basket, with Jeff inside, had collided with a wave so violently it caused the helo to vibrate, and it ripped the snorkel and mask off of Jeff’s face. 2 more waves, and finally Whiddon and breithaupt were able to pull the helo free of the wind, and lifted it high above the waves. Carl, as he hoisted Jeff high, was crying thinking that he had killed Jeff.
Cranking the lift a final time, Carl pulled Jeff aboard, who rolled out of the basket, crawled along the floor and into his seat. Once there, he looked to Jim and Clint and gave them a thumbs up.
At the same time, Jill and their younger son, kurt, who was 4, were sitting home, when they notice blasts of air tearing through where their floating home was sitting. The home rocked hard to one side, and then the other and the cables tethering their home in place were groaning under the strain brought by the wind.
Jill grabbed her radio in an effort to reach jim, but was unsuccessful. Clicking though the stations, Jill suddenly heard his voice. He was talking to the coast guard. She was able to gather that he had already called for help and the coast guard was coming to get him. She stayed on that channel and listened as the contact continued, but because of the set up of her radio location she was unable to connect in and talk to him herself.
Jill and Kurt heard the coast guard as they hovered over Jim and as they had him and Clint in their sights. And then the channel silenced. As time stretched on Jill’s worry turned to panic. She called their neighbors and asked to start a prayer chain, and when one of her neighbors offered to come to pick up her and Kurt to take them to town she immediately said no- she didn’t want anyone else risking their lives in the storm.
Half an hour later, her radio cracked, “Mrs blades” she heard. Answering with a simple “yes”, a member of the coast guard replied “we got them”.
The air crew was awarded the ANA award for outstanding achievement and received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
