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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 7, 2013 - 05:53pm PT
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walking around in the forest, off the beaten path, you come across artifacts from the past that seem detached from history.
Helicopter crash wreckages are a silent, forgotten testament of the risk air crews take in rescues. It is a reminder of how dangerous such activities are, and should be in the forefront of every climber who undertakes adventure in the Valley, lest they succumb to the idea that they can be saved from whatever happens.
Here is a wreckage that I thought was from the Peter Barton rescue/recovery, but looking at the picture that Werner reposted is obviously in the wrong place. This one is on very steep ground off to the west of El Capitan.
The debris field is relatively compact
there is melted aluminum from the fire
and recognizable parts
it is a somber monument to the potential harm these crews subject themselves in on a rescue, and not one to be taken for granted by climbers.
What is the history of helicopter crashes on rescue in the Valley?
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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From CF's site Helicopter crash while on rescue mission, base of El Capitan, 1975.
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Fletcher
Trad climber
The great state of advaita
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Shite, that is serious! Also for Werner's photo.
Mega-respect for the folks who do this giving work.
Eric
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CF
climber
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the photo werner posted is of the heli that crashed in tuolumne meadows right out from the store and burned up.
the one you found must be the barton recovery ship that went down as it was in the woods just west of lurking fear area. i was in the area and hiked up to it right after they got everyone out, it was still burning. got some photos somewhere.
will check out the server error
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Ed, I was supposed to be with Peter to do the West Face of El Cap, but Dale Bard stepped in, and Peter was right in picking him as a partner, as neither Peter or I had done an El Cap route and Dale, well, experienced.
I was in the village with Claude Fiddler when we heard about the heli crash, we raced down to El Cap Meadow. Saw the burning of the copter.
It was a 'miracle' that the crewmen survived (some broken bones I believe).
Peter Barton RIP. A lovely human being and I enjoyed climbing with him.
EDIT
Talking with Dale in C4, he was as distraught as one could be, thinking he could have done something. But Peter died on impact (I believe climbing around a tree on approach and fell). Dale could not have done anything. As I understand it, Dale and a ranger tried to approach his body in a small copter (correct me if I am wrong, anybody) but the winds down El Cap's west gully were too strong, so hence the Navy helicopter.
A tragedy.
His ashes were spread from the top of El Capitan, I believe, and the story is, that an eagle flew by when the ashes were spread. I do not know how accurate this story is, but Peter was an excellent man.
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CF
climber
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photo of barton rescue ship in woods shortly after crash
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Ummm. Tough stuff.
Hopefully if the debris is found by the Facelift crews they will leave it untouched.
A memorial unto itself.
Susan
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 7, 2013 - 08:57pm PT
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unlikely to be subject to Facelift cleanup,
just not near anyplace people would normally go
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Peter Barton earlish Seventies. I think we were bouldering near Swan Slab or behind Camp Four. It was getting to be evening.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 8, 2013 - 12:50am PT
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from the stories I've heard the site we came across is consistent with the Barton recovery crash site... but Werner was sure that the image he posted was an image of that crash, and that image does not match the site.
I think CF's image and the story he tells of making that image also match the site.
Gill has also told the story from his vantage point, he said he watched the 'copter at about his altitude and heard the engines cut out, but that he had witnessed pilots do that to descend quickly, obviously he was as surprised as anyone that it was an engine failure.
How the crew survived is also simply amazing.
It's not analytic, really, just piecing all the stories together. Maybe Werner can shed some more light on the matter.
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john hansen
climber
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"How the crew suvived"
I would like to hear more of that story.
Was the only death the person they were rescuing?
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 8, 2013 - 01:03am PT
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no, it was a body recovery, the climber was already dead...
thanks for that link climbski2
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WBraun
climber
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You guys have it right.
My original post and photo was wrong.
Stupid Werner ......
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HighGravity
Trad climber
Southern California
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I can't find the picture I'm thinking of, but I seem to recall a Huey going down somewhere in the high country while placing a portable repeater. It was perched on a peak and looked as if any movement would make it fall.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 8, 2013 - 01:14am PT
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thanks Werner...
...it was something like 40 years ago, and you've been through a lot..
terrible thing to witness, no doubt.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
bouldering
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from Climbing magazine ... There have been four YOSAR helicopter crashes over the years. One occurred during the summer of 1974, when the hydraulic system in a U.S. Naval Air Station helicopter failed during a body recovery on El Capitan. Another was in 2005 during a rescue on Braille Book on Higher Cathedral Rock. With the chopper carrying a medic and the victim in the basket below, unusual down drafts began blowing. The ship couldn’t simultaneously handle the extra weight of this load and fight off the drafts, and the victim was fatally dragged through the trees; the medic was also significantly injured. I happened to see a Dill slideshow in about '82, and remember seeing a photo of a heli crash that didn't resemble the Barton recovery crash site. That may account for the 4 crashes reported in the Climbing article(?).
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Here's a near-crash / rescue accident which is not listed in the PDF linked.
From a post of mine in 2008:
A possibly more targeted example of the risk of a helicopter evacuation was the accident and subsequent rescue on 6/13/2002 on the Braille Book in Yosemite.
Note: this is an example of the risk of helicopter evacuation; what can go wrong. This is my recollection from posts on supertopo at the time and from the posts and articles linked below. I might have some of the facts wrong. Obviously it was a tragedy, and fortunately most of the time the evacuation goes well. There have been crashes during rescues, though.
The initial accident was a soloist (Richard Zuccato, from Baytown, Texas) who fell on the first pitch of the Braille Book. His belay device failed and he did not have backup knots in place, and he fell to the ground. I am not sure exactly what his injuries were. Some posts on supertopo said he had a broken arm; a yosemite.org post at the time (link since expired) said he was in critical condition before he was evacuated.
The Braille Book is quite high above the Valley floor with a large talus field, so a litter evacuation would have taken very many hours.
On the helicopter evacuation, Jason Laird (Naval airman) was the litter attendant. The litter was hoisted partway up to the ship on the cable and the ship began descending towards El Cap Meadow. Shortly after, there was red light on the panel, due to a loss of lift (downdraft?), and the ship started heading diagonally down towards the valley floor at a very fast pace. In the process of this emergency descent, Jason and Rick were slammed into a big tree in the Spires Gully. The impact actually broke off part of the tree. The impact injured Rick fatally, and Jason got a collapsed lung, broken ribs, broken pelvis and severe lacerations. The pilot attempted to jettison the load to save the ship. The cable was released by the pilot (or it broke), and Jason and Rick dropped about 40' until the backup rope caught them. At this point the litter folded in half. The descent continued under more control, with the pilot apparently unaware for awhile that the litter was still attached - there were near misses with trees and the lower part of Lower Cathedral Spire. The pilot managed to land the ship in El Cap Meadow and Jason was hospitalized.
[edited above - thanks to Erik's post below]
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=3937&msg=3939#msg3939
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=366321&msg=366507#msg366507
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=39284&msg=39310#msg39310
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=254144&msg=258755#msg258755
http://cave.sbsar.org/Documents/trkrhist/0207Trkr.pdf (scroll down to last page)
The original 2008 thread is:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=624269
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