Tech Sgt. Joseph Prouse, left, a 163rd Reconnaissance Wing videographer glances around his surroundings as the Stockton aviators and the Marines prepare to walk to the crash site. A CH-47 Chinook crew from Bravo Company, 1-126th General Support Aviation Battalion, was called to assist aviators from the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center from Fallon, Nev., on Jan. 5, 2012. One of their Navy MH-60S Seahawk's had crash landed during a training mission high in the Toiyabe National Forest near the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC), northwest of Bridgeport, Calif. All four
Tech Sgt. Joseph Prouse, left, a 163rd Reconnaissance Wing videographer glances around his surroundings as the Stockton aviators and the Marines prepare to walk to the crash site. A CH-47 Chinook crew from Bravo Company, 1-126th General Support Aviation Battalion, was called to assist aviators from the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center from Fallon, Nev., on Jan. 5, 2012. One of their Navy MH-60S Seahawk's had crash landed during a training mission high in the Toiyabe National Forest near the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC), northwest of Bridgeport, Calif. All four crewmen aboard were able to walk away from the Dec. 21 incident but now the Navy wanted their aircraft back. The California Army National Guard flight crew from Stockton landed on a bald hilltop at 9,200 feet and was escorted to the crash site by Marines from the MWTC. Over the next few hours Marine rigging specialists from the Combat Logistics Battalion 17, specially called up from Camp Pendleton, worked with their fellow Devil Dogs trained in alpine, rock, and snow warfare, to prepare the pre-stripped helicopter for extraction. Taking guidance from a Naval MH-60S crew chief and the experts flying the tandem rotor hauling machine, the multi-service recovery team was able to pluck the 15,000 pound fallen bird, which was painted as an opposition force "enemy" aircraft, above the pine trees, down the canyon and back to the MWTC. Everyone watching, including representatives from the Forestry Service and the MWTC Environmental Office applauded the safe and successful operation. The aircraft, which lost its tail end during the hard landing, will rest on the Marines tarmac while it is subjected to further pokes and prods as key personnel continue to investigate how the incident happened. (Army National Guard photos by Master Sgt. Paul Wade)
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