Post by Coast Guard Aviation Association (Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl)

TODAY IN COAST GUARD AVIATION HISTORY (*** VIDEO - link at bottom ***) - 28 JUNE 2020: an Airbus Helicopters MH-65D #6512 assigned to Sector/Air Station North Bend, OR and crewed by LCDR Josh Smith (AC); LT Cassandra Hawley (CP); AET3 Andy Ash (FM) and AST3 John "Jack" Kelly launched in response to a badly injured man that had fallen 100-feet down a 400-foot cliff along the Rogue River near Galice, Oregon. The aircrew conducted a nighttime cliffside rescue requiring lowering Kelly from the helicopter 240 feet onto the side of the cliff. Kelly then had to grab the injured man as best he could and signal to the helicopter to be pulled back up - darkness and the topography kept Kelly out of view from the rest of the rescue crew, and the two wound up pinned against a tree. Kelly continued to grip the survivor, despite the pain of getting pulled into the tree, and also was able to radio commands to the helicopter so he could safely secure the survivor. “Ignoring his own safety, the pain of being pulled into the tree, and displaying immense strength and courage, Petty Officer Kelly maintained a ten-minute physical grip while shielding the 170-pound survivor,” according to the award citation. “Holding the survivor with one arm, he keyed his radio to provide conning commands to the helicopter to put him in a position where he was able to secure the rescue device onto the injured man and call for pickup.” After getting unpinned from the tree, Kelly then had to get a hoist cable untangled from the tree. As Kelly and the survivor were being hoisted, they collided with another tree. Kelly helped shield the survivor from sustaining additional injuries. Once the two were safely aboard the helicopter, Kelly selflessly tended to the survivor and his injuries, rather than his own. “Jack held onto another human being for ten full minutes,” said Cmdr. Mike Baird, the head of the response department at U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Bend, Oregon. “He was being pulled into a tree. After talking to him the next morning, he fully thought that was going to be the end of his life.” AST3 Kelly earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission. All other aircrewmen earned the Air Medal - CITATIONS below. AST3 Kelly - https://lnkd.in/gZnKERJ9 LCDR Smith - https://lnkd.in/gPdW5rbW LT Hawley - https://lnkd.in/g4RRzP9R AET3 Ash - https://lnkd.in/geVuKDKt Video: https://lnkd.in/gXJdFPsn ROV MISSING AWARDS: all decorations are accounted for. Follow us on Instagram: https://lnkd.in/gXq6HCaN #helicopter Airbus Safran Turbomeca Engine Corporation Rockwell Collins US Coast Guard Academy U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association The Distinguished Flying Cross Society