LAPUSH — Three Coast Guard men stationed in Sitka, Alaska, suffered fatal injuries off the coast of LaPush on Wednesday after the large helicopter in which they were flying snagged power lines spanning the mouth of the Quillayute River.
The MH-60T Jayhawk crashed into the river at about 9:35 a.m., witnesses said.
“This is a very difficult time for us to have lost some of our comrades,” said an emotional Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, 13th Coast Guard District commander, during a news conference in Seattle later Wednesday as he announced the deaths.
One member of the four-man crew survived.
He suffered a broken arm, a broken leg and some superficial scratches, Blore said.
None of those injuries were considered life-threatening. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The identities of the four crewmen are being withheld by the Coast Guard until family members are notified.
En route from Oregon
The helicopter was on the last leg of a cross-country flight from North Carolina and had left Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Ore., earlier Wednesday en route to its base at Sitka.
Coast Guard officials said they didn’t know why the 65-foot orange and white helicopter was near Station Quillayute River — which has a helipad — when the aircraft snagged low-voltage power lines between First Beach and James Island.
“We send our deepest sympathies from District 13 to the family and friends of this helicopter crew,” Blore said.
“As a member of the Coast Guard and as a naval aviator it hits close to home. We’ve flown the same route, the same machine. It hits very close to home.
“It is deeply personal to us.”
Low lines
The Coast Guard-maintained power lines — considered low-voltage because none carries more than 200 volts — extended from a tower near the Quillayute River mouth diagonally to the top of James Island.
The lines — about 250 feet over ground and around 400 feet over water — provided power to a foghorn and boater warning lights on the island.
Blore said it wasn’t the intent of the crew to stop at the Quillayute River Coast Guard Station, but that it wouldn’t be unusual for the helicopter to be flying so low.
“That wouldn’t be an atypical pattern for them to be in,” he said.
But the copter wasn’t just flying low over the water, said Quileute tribal member Vernon Black.
It was also flying abnormally low, perhaps 200 yards above the treeline before the crash, said Black.
“We’ve never seen them fly that low,” he said.
Aviation mystery
Petty Officer Eric Chandler, Coast Guard Sector Seattle spokesman, said Wednesday evening that it remained unclear why the crew didn’t avoid the lines.
“It’s not going to be a fast answer for that one,” he said.
Blore said it wasn’t yet known if the helicopter had clipped the lines on its way to landing or if the lines caused the helicopter to go down.
Witnesses who watched the crash said the tail broke off before the helicopter crashed into the water upside down.
Quileute tribal fishermen pulled two of the crew members from the water shortly after the crash.
Tribal Chairwoman Anna Rose Counsell-Geyer said that the tribe will provide housing and meals for Coast Guard investigators who will examine and remove the wreckage.
“We’re really sorry for the loss of these men,” she said of the crew.
“Our community members are pretty saddened about this. [Coast Guard personnel] are members of our community as well.”
Said tribe Executive Director Bill Peach:
“There’s so much appreciation for what the Coast Guard does. It’s not just a simple thank you. It’s sincere.”
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Reporter Tom Callis, who reported from LaPush, can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Paige Dickerson, who reported from Port Angeles, can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
