Malmstrom Huey Crews Rescue Injured Driver

A UH-1N Huey aircrew from Malmstrom AFB, Mont., on May 13 rescued an injured driver near Livingston. The helicopter and crew responded to a call from the base’s Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at 5:45 a.m., regarding a lost driver who left their vehicle after a crash on US Highway 90, according to a Malmstrom release. The helicopter, which was assigned to the 40th Helicopter Squadron, launched in the end of a spring snowfall, and flew to the search area in a mountainous region 13 miles south of Springdale, Mont. The snowfall forced the helicopter to fly with a short ceiling. “We were determined to find a way to get there without a direct route,” aircraft commander and pilot Maj. Matthew Sims said in the release. “We went along the mountains to get out there the best and quickest way possible.” The helicopter searched an area where local emergency personnel and dogs couldn’t reach, and found someone walking near a highway. The helicopter landed, with flight surgeon Capt. Melonie Parmley treating the injured for hypothermia before emergency medical technicians arrived. It was the squadron’s 414th save.