Wilderness Medical Society snowmass 2005 Page 64
Data from National Park Service rescue accidents indicates that rescuer death from helicopter
accidents far out-paced all other causes of death
ii
Fatalities by Accident Type
National Park Service (1925-2001)
N=31
Fall
23%
Suffocation
10%
Fixed-wing crash
13%
Drowning
13%
Medical
3%
Rotary Wing
crash
38%
There are a multitude of lessons that can be learned by studying helicopter accidents in mountain
rescue operations. For this reason, we have detailed several such accidents on the following
pages.
Fall from the "Hell Hole"
On January 7, 1975, members of Seattle Mountain Rescue Council (SMRC) were responding to
the crash of a fixed-wing aircraft. Near the crash site, SMRC member Al Givler was being lowered
through the belly of a twin-rotor Boeing CH-47 Chinook flown by the 92nd Army Reserve out of Ft.
Lewis, Washington. He was being lowered using a winch cable and a horse-collar. He was also
wearing his backpack at the time of the lowering.
In the middle of the lowering, high winds forced the crew to reverse the winch in an attempt to
raise Givler back into the helicopter. During the raising, the combination of the backpack and
horse-collar pinched a nerve in Givler's upper body, causing him to lose all sensation in his arms.
Just as rescuers on board the helicopter began to pull Givler aboard, he slipped from the horse
collar and fell from the helicopter.
Givler fell an estimated 150 feet, landing on his back. The Chinook landed nearby and dropped off
the three other rescuers on board. They reached Givler in 45 minutes and found him conscious,
but bleeding from the ears
Miraculously Givler suffered only a basal skull fracture. He never lost consciousness.
The combination of cushioning snow and his great physical conditioning saved him. The
ground was populated by many post-logging tree stumps and there were many tree snags
around, but he missed these in his fall.
iii
