NAVAL AIR STATION WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. – A Search and Rescue (SAR) team from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island assisted in the rescue of two stranded mountaineers off the North Face of Mt. Baker on June 3, 2025.
The mountaineers slipped and fell on the north face of Mt. Baker while attempting to summit the mountain that morning. They became stranded and immobile after one of the members, a 62-year-old man, lost a boot/crampon in the fall.
NAS Whidbey Island’s SAR team received a request for assistance from the Whatcom County Sheriff Department via the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at approximately 11:20 a.m. A SAR team was able to reach the stranded men’s coordinates quickly, in roughly 20 minutes, as they were conducting an airborne training exercise.
After retrieving the two men the SAR crew flew them to Peace Health St. Joseph Medical Center before returning to the air station.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island SAR has conducted 13 missions this calendar year, which includes 4 MEDEVACs, 1 search and 8 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.
