Search training becomes rescue
Military crew in Hall Beach for Operation Nunalivut spots hunters
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, March 6, 2017
SANIRAJAK/HALL BEACH
It was supposed to be a training scenario for a Royal Canadian Air Force Twin Otter crew, but it turned into a real rescue after the crew spotted hunters from Hall Beach stranded with a broken-down snowmobile.
Maj. Anders Muckosky, left, Capt. Thom Doelman, Tyler Amarualik, Cpl. Jason MacKenzie and Capt. Dale Maedel pose in Hall Beach for a photo in front of a Twin Otter from 440 Transport Squadron after Amarualik was rescued by the crew on Feb. 23. He was one of three hunters rescued. - photo courtesy of Belinda Groves/Canadian Armed Forces |
Two hunters were spotted by a crew member of the Twin Otter on Feb. 23. A third hunter, who was walking back to town for help, was rescued with hypothermia the following morning.
"They thought we had been looking for them but the reality was that we were just doing training and a lot of things lined up to find them when they did - they had been out for a couple days already," said Capt. Thom Doelman, with 440 Transport Squadron in Yellowknife, who was in Hall Beach with the Twin Otter and other crew members for Operation Nunalivut.
The annual Arctic sovereignty exercise is being held in Resolute and Hall Beach this year.
The chance encounter happened after crew flew to a Cold War-era Distant Early Warning Line facility to look for a possible landing area.
With the weather starting to shift, they moved on to carry out search-and-rescue training - looking for an old iron ore mine.
After finding the mine by searching in a grid pattern, they came in low over the old airstrip. Once back out over Roche Bay and flying low, Cpl. Jason MacKenzie spotted someone on the ice waving. When they turned back, there were two people waving.
"We didn't even know that there was anyone missing," Doelman said.
There was no way of knowing without landing whether the two were in trouble, so they decided to land to check on them.
They touched down with a brief window before it would get too dark to take off again. MacKenzie went out to talk to them and they climbed aboard the plane.
"When we first got airborne they asked if we had found their friend," Doelman said.
They determined they didn't have enough fuel for another search and it was getting dark so they returned to Hall Beach and informed RCMP.
"One of the first things I said to the two guys when we got them on board was 'Hey, you guys are the luckiest guys I know,' and they knew it. They said right away that they were so thankful we showed up," Doelman said.
They had been on the land for about three days.
Their friend had begun walking toward Hall Beach with a rifle and winter clothing, according to an RCMP news release.
The Hall Beach search-and-rescue team sent two teams on snowmobiles. The military provided air support with the Twin Otter flying late into the evening, according to police.
A local search-and-rescue team located the man about 16 kilometres south of Hall Beach, around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 24.
He was frostbitten and hypothermic. He was flown to Iqaluit for medical treatment and police stated he was in stable condition.
"This is a situation which could have had devastating results but thanks to the hard work of the military and the local search-and-rescue team, had a positive outcome for all involved," RCMP spokesperson Sgt. David Lawson stated in a news release.
Doelman said the rescue will probably be a career highlight for the crew.
"It was a great example of what we train to do, even if it was by accident," he said.
