NUNAVUT
The helicopter captain who rescued two Iglulik hunters from icy water in October 2011 says he is honoured to have been decorated by the Governor General for his role in the search and rescue effort, during which one airman lost his life.

Capt. Aaron Noble was presented with a Meritorious Service Cross on Feb. 18 for his role leading a rescue mission near Iglulik in 2011 where two boaters were rescued and one airman lost his life. Here, he receives the award from Gov. Gen. David Johnston at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. - photo courtesy of Sgt. Ronald Duchesne, Rideau Hall, OSGG

Capt. Aaron Noble flew a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter on a grueling 18-hour rescue mission Oct. 27, 2011, from Gander, N.L., to Helca Straight, north of Iglulik.

"It's certainly the mission of my career. I keep saying that I hope to never see another one like that," Noble told Nunavut News/North.

As they arrived to work at the 103 Search and Rescue Squadron that morning, Noble and four other crew members received a call stating there were two hunters stranded on an ice floe near Iglulik.

"There had been multiple attempts by people up there (to rescue them) but that wasn't working," he said. "It think some of them had gotten into peril themselves during the attempts."

Celistino Uyarak, Iglulik's assistant senior administrative officer, served as rescue co-ordinator at the time.

Community members tried on two occasions from two different approaches to reach the stranded hunters by boat but could not get through because"the canoes and the boats that we had were so small and the rough weather had picked up so much."

The hunters themselves, David Aqqiaruq and his 17-year-old son Lester, had gone out in an aluminum Lund looking for walrus when they ran into trouble and became stranded.

"The boats we have here, they're just not designed to be in the rough ocean water," said Uyarak.

"I'm very thankful and happy for that gentlemen to be awarded because at that time they flew all the way from the south to help us out."

A Hercules aircraft was also sent from Trenton, Ont., which made the distance in much less time than the helicopter.

As Noble and his crew were making the more-than-2,000-km flight that took roughly 15 hours, they were constantly being updated on the situation, which steadily deteriorated.

"I was basically climbing and descending trying to get a tail wind," he said of the flight. "We were trying constantly the whole mission to get there quicker because, in those situations, minutes can be the difference between life and death."

During their third and final fuel stop in Cape Dorset, the helicopter crew received word that the Hercules had lost contact with the hunters and were considering parachuting SAR technicians into the water.

"As we took off, that's when we heard that the situation had deteriorated and they weren't necessarily sure of the status of the SAR techs who had jumped," said Noble.

With roughly two hours to go, there were now five people in the water, unaccounted for.

Those last hours were tense, as Noble and his team ran through every possible scenario they might encounter once they reached the scene.

Finally, they arrived and descended through the cloud layer and for the first time saw what they were dealing with. It was a stormy, cold night with winds gusting up to 30 knots creating huge waves. What had once been an ice floe had been broken up by the waves, and four flashing lights were seen bobbing in the slushy salt water. In addition, blowing snow decreased visibility.

"I keep comparing it to the perfect storm and the guardian, just to put it into perspective what we were looking at with the waves and the wind," said Noble.

Upon their arrival, two flares were shot up from two of the four beacons.

That was good news for those on the helicopter.

"At that point we knew that we had two, what we call co-operative targets, who were able to signal us that they were in distress."

Even though their aircraft was well equipped with full anti-ice capabilities, getting down to the rafts that had been deployed by the Herc was no easy task.

As Nobel flew over his target, he lost site of the raft. The flight engineer, who operated the hoist for the two SAR techs who took turns being lowered into the icy water, called out directions.

"Despite how cold it was outside, we were all sweating," he said.

The first insertion was the best. The SAR tech landed in the life raft, which was occupied by the two hunters and one of the SAR techs who had parachuted from the Herc hours before. Nobel credited the rescuer who made it to the raft with saving the lives of the hunters, who had been batted about by the waves since the wind had picked up the night before.

"If he hadn't made it there, it's not certain that the hunters would have survived," he said.

With three of five on board, the helicopter crew moved on to the other raft that had sent up a flare in the hopes the other two SAR techs were on board. But when they lowered down, there was only one.

They checked the other two blinking lights, but neither was the missing rescuer. With fuel running low, they finally spotted him partially submerged in the water and it became clear his condition was serious.

That last drop was a struggle against the waves for the rescuer who went down, said Nobel. Although the helicopter was hovering roughly 60 feet above sea level, the waves caused the water level to vary roughly 30 feet.

"You can imaging the SAR tech dangling on the line with water maybe 15 feet below and 15 feet above," he said. "It was definitely a big ordeal for him to get him inside the helicopter.

The last man in the water, 34-year-old Sgt. Janick Gilbert from Baie-Comeau, Que., was later pronounced dead at the Iglulik health centre.

Residents were gathered at the landing site when the helicopter touched down in the community, and people clapped and cheered as they saw the two hunters walk on their own from the aircraft to a van awaiting to take them to the health centre.

"I remember seeing a bag being taken into the vehicle, and that's when things went quiet," said Uyarak

"We felt bad, we felt sorry, we tried to reach the family, we tried to send a condolences card to the family."

"It's not an easy thing to lose one of our colleagues," said Noble. "But I'm glad we were able to bring them back to their families safe."

It was hard for people in the community to understand why a young man would give his life for people he had never met, said Uyarak, adding the efforts of all involved in the rescue prevented a major tragedy in the community.

Now, David Aqqiaruq and Lester Aqqiaruq are still in their home community, and David has become chair of the search and rescue committee in the hamlet.

"We see them every day and it's so nice to see them smiling," said Uyarak.

For Noble, that is exactly why those in his field do what they do.

"It was truly an honour," he said of the Meritorious Service Cross he received from the Governor General. "It really was, but the recognition is always kind of awkward. We're just doing our job."

Of the rescue mission, he said in some ways it is the highlight of his career but he hopes it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"It was intense but it had a semi-good ending," he said. "The hunters were rescued, which is our job. That's why we go out."

At the Feb. 18 ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Noble was also awarded a Meritorious Service Medal for his role rescuing a sailor from a fishing boat in 2011.