CBP Air Crew Rescues Missing Mountain Biker

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Tucson, Ariz. – A male U.S. citizen inhis late 50s, reported missing Saturday in the Huachuca Mountains south of FortHuachuca, was rescued by a Black Hawk helicopter crew from CBP’s Office of Airand Marine (OAM).
OAM’s Tucson Air Branch received a callfor assistance from the Naco Border Patrol Station stating they had beencontacted by Fort Huachuca’s military police asking for assistance in locatingthe missing man somewhere in the mountains south of the Army base. The TucsonAir Branch then assembled a Black Hawk helicopter crew with equipment toconduct a possible helicopter rope suspension technique rescue.
The Black Hawk crew departed Tucson at4:25 p.m. and, by 6:20 p.m., spotted the missing biker in the south end ofHuachuca Canyon at an elevation of 6,400 feet. The helicopter attempted to landat the site but was unable due to the terrain. The crew decided a “fast rope”insertion (agents repelling from the helicopter) and short-haul extraction(with rescuer and victim suspended while in flight) would be the best method torescue the man.
An air enforcement agent was thenfast-roped from the aircraft to assess the victim and fit him with an airrescue vest. Meanwhile, the pilot and remaining crew departed to locate a safelanding zone .
After locating a landing zone, the crewreturned to the agent who had finished preparing the man for extraction. TheBlack Hawk then short-hauled the suspended agent and man to the landing zonewhere they loaded into the helicopter. There was a short flight to FortHuachuca where the man was transferred to waiting emergency medical servicepersonnel for transport to the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center where he wastreated for dehydration, tachycardia and hypoglycemia.
According to Arizona Joint Field CommandDirector of Air Operations, Andrew Duff, rescue activity increases during thesummer season.
“This time of year, when thetemperatures in Arizona are the hottest, the deserts and mountains can be veryunforgiving,” he said. “This is the third rescue of a stranded or distressedperson in the last 10 days. Whether it's a U.S. citizen out hiking or anillegal immigrant abandoned by unscrupulous smugglers, OAM has always answeredthe call.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security chargedwith the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at andbetween the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists andterrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.