NAVAL AIR STATION WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. –Search and Rescue (SAR) teams from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island conducted two rescues of injured hikers in the Olympic National Park (ONP) June 18 and 19, 2025.
 
The first rescue took place on Everette Peak at approximately the night of June 18.  SAR received an alert from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) for a 40-year-old man suffering from hypothermia at 11 p.m. and was airborne shortly before midnight.  The SAR crew delivered the man to Harborview Medical Center around 1:30 a.m. the following morning.
 
The second rescue occurred near Lake Crescent on the night of June 19, 2025. SAR received an alert from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) for a 41-year-old man stranded on a cliff. The stranded man became stuck on a one-foot ledge on 300’ cliff after trying to retrieve a dropped backpack. ONP Rangers were unable to safely reach his location. SAR retrieved the man via a rappel direct deployment and flew him to a nearby landing zone at approximately 1 a.m. on June 20.
 
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island SAR has conducted 17 missions this calendar year, which includes 4 MEDEVACs, 1 search and 12 rescues.
 
The Navy SAR unit operates three MH-60S helicopters from NAS Whidbey Island as search and rescue/medical evacuation (SAR/MEDEVAC) platforms for the EA-18G aircraft as well as other squadrons and personnel assigned to the installation.  Pursuant to the National SAR Plan of the United States, the unit may also be used for civil SAR/MEDEVAC needs to the fullest extent practicable on a non-interference basis with primary military duties according to applicable national directives, plans, guidelines and agreements; specifically, the unit may launch in response to tasking by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (based on a Washington State Memorandum of Understanding) for inland missions, and/or tasking by the United States Coast Guard for all other aeronautical and maritime regions, when other assets are unavailable.