With precision and coordination, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations (AMO) helicopter crews completed yet another rescue mission, this time in the rugged expanse of Franklin Mountains State Park. The operation carried out on Thursday involved a high-altitude extraction of an injured male hiker, who found himself in a perilous situation amidst the remote terrain.
The El Paso Air Branch of the CBP AMO received a distress call from El Paso County Combined Search and Rescue (COMSAR), which was in dire need of air support to safely retrieve the hiker. In response, the AMO swiftly deployed a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter equipped to hoist, despite the challenges posed by nighttime conditions. The crew, utilizing night vision goggles to meticulously search, managed to not only locate the hiker but to also seamlessly insert a hoist rescue specialist into the scene.
According to a press release by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the operation involved six hoist iterations to successfully extricate the hiker and subsequently lift five COMSAR personnel back into the Black Hawk. Post-rescue, the crew transported the hiker and the rescue team back to the incident command post set up by COMSAR.
"Our CBP AMO El Paso Air Branch crews regularly train with our El Paso COMSAR partners to conduct hoist rescues and medical evacuations," said El Paso Air Branch Director Efren Gonzalez. In this coordinated effort, the injured hiker managed to receive immediate care after the helicopter crew, upon secure handover, allowed for the individual to be quickly transported to a local hospital by El Paso Fire and Rescue personnel for further treatment. Gonzalez also emphasized the regular training that such operations require, helping "together we provide an important lifesaving capability as AMO helicopter crews conduct their national security mission to patrol the deserts and mountains in our border region," as reported by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
