Settling on the Baldwin Peninsula, two Sikorsky Helicopters are calling Kotzebue’s hangar home. The Coast Guard forward operation location is home to two Sikorsky MH-60 helicopters fully equipped for Alaska search and rescue.
The Sikorsky MH-60, otherwise known as a Jayhawk, is the standard helicopter for Coast Guard operations. But don’t balk at “standard issue.” The Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter comes with a variety of special tools to make it a premier vehicle for search and rescue.
“What’s different about it is this is obviously way larger than most of your general aviation or even, like, EMS helicopters,” said Coast Guard helicopter pilot J.D. Hess. “It’s military grade, so it’s built to handle harsher environments specifically for us up here in Alaska.”
Especially harsher conditions like cold and snow.
According to Hess, they’re capable of flying at icing conditions up to moderate for mission urgency. “These blades will actually go through a de-ice cycle.” Furthermore, the engines themselves have anti-ice safeguards that make them perfectly suited for Alaska.
In addition to de-icing equipment, the Jayhawks have two winches on board: one for lifting people up to 600 pounds and another for taking sling loads up to 6,000 pounds. Pulling even more weight during the flight are computers and search equipment: the Jayhawk has a massive blinking array of screens and lights dedicated to the search process.
The helicopters have screens for navigation, direction finding equipment that searches for emergency signals, search lights with multiple lenses, and electric optic infrared cameras perfect for seeing bodies in cold oceans.
The Sikorsky MH-60 helicopters are primarily for search and rescue. Among other duties, the Coast Guard will also deal with making sure fisherman have proper documentation and the enforcement of laws and treaties.
