SAR Tech Dies in Arctic

[ch135146]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada ... 42698.html

"That others may live."

R.I.P

Steve

[Changes in Latitudes]

These are some of the bravest people working in Canada, its an amazing job that they do. The sad thing is, too many times they have to risk their lives due to the stupidity of others.

Sincerest condolences to the friends and family of Sgt. Gilbert.

[CD]

Media Advisory

Our Search and Rescue Technician Returns to CFB Trenton
October 28, 2011

OTTAWA – Our fallen comrade, Search and Rescue Technician Sergeant Janick Gilbert of 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron, will return to 8 Wing Trenton tomorrow from Nunavut.

Where: 8 Wing, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario.

When: Saturday, Oct 29, 2011, at 3 p.m.

What: At the request of the family, media will not be permitted on the tarmac.

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, General Walt Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff, Lieutenant-General André Deschamps, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Brigadier-General Richard Foster, Chief of Staff for Canada Command plan to attend the ramp ceremony to pay their respects.

Sergeant Janick Gilbert lost his life while participating in a rescue mission near Igloolik (Hall Bay), Nunavut on the evening of Thursday, October 27.

-30-

Notes to editor / news director:
A photograph of Sergeant Janick Gilbert is available on the Fallen Canadians page of the Department of National Defence website. Please visit: http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/fc-ncd/index-eng.asp

Please note: The typical transportation route down the Highway of Heros will be modified to take an easterly direction down highway 416 en route to Ottawa.

Contact information:
Interested media may contact Lt Chris Daniel, 8 Wing/CFB Trenton Public Affairs Officer, Tel: 613-392-2811 ext. 4565 or e-mail: christopher.daniel@forces.gc.ca

For general queries, please contact the Media Liaison Office at 1-866-377-0811 or 613-996-2353. For flight information, please contact the Air Passenger Terminal at 1-800-487-1186.

[onspeed]

sad tragedy.... RIP

[RVgrin]

These are some of the bravest people working in Canada, its an amazing job that they do. The sad thing is, too many times they have to risk their lives due to the stupidity of others.

Sincerest condolences to the friends and family of Sgt. Gilbert.

+1

[Flyboy757]

Sincerest condolences to Sgt Gilbert`s family, the SAR Tech community, 424(T&R) Sqn and the folks at CFB Trenton.
Through out my aviation career I had the distinct pleasure to meet and work with the SAR tech folks. A trully unique,dedicated and highly qualified group of individuals.
In the early 60`s , I was a teen, the SAR techs at 424 Sqn at YTR under the direction of Bill Wacey set up a civilian jump club using planes from the Prince Edward Flying Club (PEFC).My dad was the mgr/CFI. They would pay me 25 cents for every wind drift streamer I retrieved!! Big bucks back then!!
During my military career I was stationed in YTR on the C-130 at 436(T)Sqn. One of our roles was SAR. Every SAR launch these guys were there and wanted , at any chance, to jump out of serviceable planes!
They are definately a unique group of people. It was always a pleasure to work with them.
The loss of Sgt Gilbert is terrible as is the loss of any person. Sgt Gilbert died doing what he loved to do. REST IN PEACE Sgt..................

[Go Juice]

As I understand it, they had to ship a cormorant from NFDLD. Waiting 5 hours to get a chopper up there is unacceptable!!!!

my 2 cents

Cheers


*** This is in NO WAY directed at the SAR TECH guys but rather at the ones making decisions. We NEED search and rescue facilities up north. ***

@ SAR TECHS: THANK YOU for doing what you do and saving our asses!!!

[summitx]

I met Janick on an avalanche course I was teaching to a sar tech group. A great guy and I feel privileged to have known him and spent some time in the mountains with him. R.I.P. my friend. My condolences to family and all the sar tech group during this difficult time.

[CFR]

Having spent the last 18 years in Winnipeg at 1 Cdn Air Div (previously Air Command HQ) prior to my retirement this year, I can say without hesitation that one area of CF/DND operations that regularly gets ignored by the media (who are too busy counting flights by the CDS or MND) is SAR operations. During the "Silly Season" (~ May 24th to Labour day) SAR launches number in the hundreds, with many launches per day (the highest I can recall is 14 in one day!). At all times whether in heat of summer or dead of winter these folks are ready to go! Rarely do the successes make front page news if making the paper at all and thankfully the less than successful outcomes are few and far between. While the sense of satisfaction of a job well done at the end of a successful rescue must be a high, I have often reflected on how much of a low it must be to have spent hours searching for and then parachuting into the site of an aircraft crash, working hard to get to the actual wreckage only to find the crew deceased!

SAR techs are a highly trained, incredibly fit, self motivated, elite group of selfless folks who do some very incredible work. Their motto "That Others May Live" is a concise sumation of all they do.

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

[ragbagflyer]

Wow, parachuting into arctic seas in total darkness. That takes bravery. I'm actually amazed they even attempt rescue operations like that.

RIP

[SAR_YQQ]

As I understand it, they had to ship a cormorant from NFDLD.

They flew the Cormorant from Gander - it was not shipped.

[BeaverDriver13]

Very well said by The Old Fogducker in his post.

RIP

[Darkwing Duck]

Very well said by The Old Fogducker in his post.

RIP

+1. It brought a tear to my eye.

Too all the courageous personnel at 424 Sqd and the family of Sgt. Gilbert, may God Bless.

[The Old Fogducker]

For those who may have missed it ... it was a dupe thread starter ... Here's a copy and paste of my writing on the matter ...

OFD




If ... (heaven forbid) .... you should ever end up crashed or stranded in a remote part of Canada, the first person on scene to help you if you're injured, comfort you and give you strength if you're demoralized, warm you with a fire if you're chilled to the bone cold, feed you if you're starving, render first aid if you're hurt, or hook you up to the winch line to lift you into a helicopter and take you to back to civilization will be a Canadian Armed Forces Search And Rescue Technician.

This job title abbreviates to "SAR Tech."

SAR Techs are the ones who will parachute out of the back of a C-130 in the dead of night, into a super-tiny opening in the trees, into freezing water, or into some bleak spot where survival can be measured in minutes if unprotected. SAR Techs are driven by a strong sense of being first on scene to help victims ... in the same way some of us are driven to become Para Medics, Nurses, Doctors, Social Workers, Police Officers, Fire Fighters, etc. The are "the helpers among us."

SAR Techs practice and train constantly for various types of rescues and extractions from all types of terrain, in all kinds of weather. They train physically hour after hour so they will have a reserve of strength and stamina to help others, so they might live.

Last Thursday night, one of these exceptionally physically fit and brave men of 424 Transport and Search and Rescue Squadron based in Trenton jumped from the back of a C-130 Hercules into the incredibly cold, and rough water of the Northwest Passage near the small community of Igloolik in Nunavut to rescue a man and his son who were stranded in a boat in the open ocean, drifting out to sea.

Sgt Janik Gilbert, 34 years old, from Baie Comeau, Quebec died in the rough Arctic waters trying to save the lives of others. This afternoon at 3 o'clock, his body arrived back at his home base of Trenton.

Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, General Walt Natynczyk, Chief of the Defence Staff, Lieutenant-General Andre Deschamps, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Brigadier-General Richard Foster, Chief of Staff for Canada Command attended the ramp ceremony to pay their respects.

This is one the fellows that you would have sworn was an Angel sent from Heaven if you were a downed aviator, and you saw him overhead in a 'chute coming to save you and your passengers.

I hope that you will join me in wishing the aviation friends and family of Sgt Gilbert condolences on the loss of a highly motivated man that was ready to help you if he was ever called upon to do so. It is that type of expression of appreciation that will mean a lot to his fellow Search and Rescue crew members, and to all SAR Techs at bases across Canada who await the call to search for, and rescue your fellow Canadians.

I encourage you to Google Sgt Janik Gilbert's name, do some reading on his life, and the role that SAR Techs play in the Canadian aviation system.

My condolences to his family, and to the rest of the SAR Techs from coast to oast, we appreciate you're being there ready to help.

The Old Fogducker

[YCL Boy]

A few details from the survivors.
Great post above by OFD.
------------------------------
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/sto ... vivor.html

Igloolik survivor calls rescuers 'heroes'
Adds he is 'so sorry' for sergeant who sacrificed his life to save them

Quebec airman's body returns to base
Airman dies after Igloolik rescue effort

One of the survivors of last week's fatal rescue mission near Igloolik, Nunavut, describes his rescuers as heroes.

"The one who came to us truly saved our lives, bailing water from the raft. We were helpless and he saved us," said David Aqqiaruq.

David Aqqiaruq told the CBC that those who rescued him and his son near Igloolik last week are heroes.David Aqqiaruq told the CBC that those who rescued him and his son near Igloolik last week are heroes. CBCThe tragic day began when Aqqiaruq and his 17-year-old son Leslie went walrus hunting last Wednesday, about 90 minutes from Igloolik.

Both are experienced on the land, and both survived a rescue about two years ago from the same spot – the Fury and Hecla Strait between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula.

"Since when I was really young, I've been out with my dad," said Leslie.

The two set out in good weather Wednesday morning and were soon successful, bringing down a walrus to take back to Igloolik to share with their family and the community.

But the weather deteriorated. The winds rose, temperatures fell and sea ice began to form.

"We tried to go home, but the ice was too thick and we couldn't move. It was really a big surprise."

'I was scared. I thought we were going to die.'—Leslie Aqqiaruq

When the pair didn't return Wednesday night, searchers set out from Igloolik. The Aqqiaruqs had registered their destination and had an electronic signal device with them, but nobody could find them in the moonless, snowy Arctic dark. All night and into the next day, Leslie and his father, who were in an open aluminum boat, were tossed on stormy seas in blizzard conditions that included 70 km/h winds. Their camp stove, the only source of heat, soon ran out of fuel.

"I was scared," said Leslie. "I thought we were going to die."

Eventually, rescue planes spotted them and tried to drop a phone, but the two couldn't get to it. On Thursday morning, crews dropped a survival boat, but even though the Aqqiaruqs were able to reach it, that didn't end their ordeal.

"There was a little food but we were really cold and we couldn't really eat it," said Leslie. "Our hands were cold. It was really hard to open [the packages]."

A stove in the survival boat got too wet to light. Their original boat slowly sank beneath the ice, taking all their gear with it.

Eventually, three search and rescue technicians, including Gilbert, parachuted into the water.

"Three soldiers were dropped off with parachutes from the Hercules that was sent to save us," Aqqiaruq said. "One of the soldiers made it to the raft but we couldn't see the other two."

The three men in the raft were eventually rescued by a Cormorant helicopter from Gander, N.L., along with one of the search and rescue technicians who was in the water.

The two soldiers left in the water were picked up by the helicopter. One of them, Canadian Forces Sgt. Janick Gilbert, died during the mission.

Details are unclear about how that rescue took place, but the military said Gilbert was "unsuccessful" parachuting into the water. The RCMP indicated he was found non-responsive in the water. Military officials said Monday the death remains under investigation.

'I am so sorry we put so many people through so much and especially the soldier who sacrificed his life to save us.'—David Aqqiaruq, survivor

Aqqiaruq and his son said they never saw Gilbert and only found out about his death later.

"I am so sorry we put so many people through so much and especially the soldier who sacrificed his life to save us," he said.

Leslie said he saw the airman's unresponsive body on board the chopper.

"He wasn't breathing in the helicopter."

Later, at the hospital in Iqaluit, Leslie learned his rescue had cost Gilbert his life.

"If you could tell that rescue team, I feel sorry for them," he requested.

Leslie, who was resting at his home in Igloolik, said he keeps crying when he recalls the dramatic ordeal.

"It was really awful," he said, sobbing through his halting English. "I feel so sorry for the rescue team, really bad."

David Aqqiaruq says he and his son will both recover over time.

The military says the incident is still under investigation.
With files from The Canadian Press

[Flyboy757]

Thank you ODF for your post........

[Jastapilot]

I have nothing but the highest respect for these men. I've seen first had the kind of work these guys do, something very few could do. There was a man bleeding to death due to an axe wound at his remote bush camp in Northern Ontario, and using a VNC I gave the most accurate coordinates I could to the guys in Trenton. The SAR techs jumped out of the herc into a thick fog and landed blind... within 40 yards of the camp and saved the guy's life. Amazing. Heroic. Words can barely describe.

RIP Sgt Gilbert and thank you and all your brethren.

[Commonwealth]

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/vital/ ... ct2011.pdf

Report from the investigator.

Horrendous conditions.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.~Ambrose Redmoon

[North Shore]

Seas of 20-30', 45% slush and gusting to 47knots?! Horrendous doesn't even begin to describe that, nor courageous the person who would willingly jump into that, at the onset of nightfall.