back, with the help of night-vision goggles and guidance from a C-130 plane flying overhead, the pilot took another shot at Lake Clark Pass, barely skimming through. Conditions were even worse in Dillingham: Ev-
erything was socked in, including the crash site. Rescue command called the Coast Guard to
ask for a second chopper with a hoist, though it would take most of the night to arrive on the scene. With the weather opaque, was it possible to reach the crash before dawn? “It is not an option,” came the reluctant de-
cision after midnight. “We are waiting for both weather to improve and first light.” It had been nearly eight hours since the
crash. “The cavalry is coming. They’ll be here in the
morning.” Trying to spin it with a hopeful preface, John
Dunson, an EMT from Dillingham, broke the bad news to Morhard. Dunson’s wife, Susan, an EMT and nurse,
told O’Keefe. “What do you mean in the morning? Why not
sooner?” “Well, minimums have dropped,” Susan re-
plied. “It took a lot for us to get in here. We almost weren’t able to land. “ With temperatures in the 40s by now, it was
time to hunker down for the night. The third EMT, Joshua Flint, came laden with blankets and prayers. This isn’t looking good, John Dunson thought.
“It’s going to be a long time. What can we do?” A blue plastic tarp was arranged over the
cockpit to protect Kevin from the soaking rain, leaving him in a cocoon from which he could hear everything and see nothing, save for the dead man sitting to his left. Bowman helped Willy from his soaked clothes,
wrapping him in blankets before they curled up outside under the protection of a wing. Dunson and Flint gently moved Morhard,
whose head had been pointing downhill since he slid off O’Keefe and into the rear cargo area. “This is going to hurt,” Dunson said as they
inched Morhard around. Then they took up position beside him as he floated in and out through the long night. Susan moved the body of Bill Phillips just
enough to liberate O’Keefe’s foot, then settled in across from him. “I’m worried about losing consciousness,”
O’Keefe confided. “I don’t think I’ll make it if I do.”
“Don’t worry, I’m here,” she said. Reassured, his voice rose above a whisper to
call to Kevin. Tom TuCker Dani Bowman John Bouker
The firsT big rescue chopper took off from Dillingham just as the hint of morning wrestled through the near-blinding fog. The pilot crawled the mountain and closed the final distance with help of lights flashed from the people on the ground. As he hovered in the cloud bank 80 feet over-
head, a pair of Air National Guard paramedics roped down, struggling the last hundred yards through the brush, laden with gear. Bowman grasped the hand of medic Kristofer
Abel and held on for a long while. She was drained — exhausted after a night without the tools of her trade and eager for the morphine that would give her patients relief. The team leader, Sgt. Jonathan Davis, said a prayer and went to work with an elec- tric saw to cut away the fuselage. As they prepared to move the survivors,
O’Keefe looked out and saw the basket that would lift them away. It looked as though it was suspended from a cloud. Almost 18 hours after the plane collided with
the mountain, rescuers strapped him into that basket. Three of the four survivors could be moved only on litters. Willy insisted on walking to the basket, leaning on the arms of rescuers. He was the last survivor to leave the mountain. As the hoist lifted, O’Keefe passed out. “I knew I was safe.”
Willy Phillips has returned to school in North Bethesda. Jim Morhard, who had multiple frac- tures and internal injuries, is recovering slowly with the help of physical therapy. Kevin O’Keefe began his sophomore year on time at Syracuse University and is almost completely recovered. Sean O’Keefe returned to work in October and is continuing his recovery from neck and leg injuries.
Washington Post researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report. Post writer Lonnae O’Neal Parker reported from Alaska; she can be reached at
oneall@washpost.com. Ashley Halsey III reported from Washington; he can be reached at
halseya@washpost.com.
november 28, 2010 | The WashingTon PosT Magazine 17
reSCuerS
The
“Hang in there! Don’t go to sleep, because you
might go into complete shock.” Kevin fought to stay awake, losing all track of
time, his thoughts drifting between reality and twilight. “We’re still going fishing. … That’s stupid,
what am I thinking? … I don’t think that’s going to happen today, maybe tomorrow … Wait, this is a life-threatening situation, I shouldn’t be think- ing that.” Once he was jerked into focus by a shout. “Where are the danged Coasties?”
PHOTOGRAPHS OF BOUKER AND TUCKER BY JENNIFER BOOMER; DANI BOWMAN COURTESY DATELINE NBC
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