SASless
10th Jul 2010, 02:28
A USCG Jayhawk helicopter has crashed, three crewman dead, one survivor, near La Push in Washington State in the USA. The Co-Pilot has survived, CVR has been recovered and evidence suggests the aircraft hit a wire.
The Aircraft Commander killed in the accident is a former Exchange Pilot who won an award for a 200nm offshore SAR flight in a UK RAF Sea King.
Local News | Coast Guard identifies crewmen killed in copter crash | Seattle Times Newspaper (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012308470_coptercrash09m.html)
A married father of three, Krueger joined the Coast Guard in 1998 and was awarded numerous commendations and medals.
He was born in Seymour, Conn., but grew up in Waterboro, Maine, the son of David and Maura Krueger, said his sister, Meagan Roy, 30, of Grand Isle, VT.
He was the oldest of four children, including two brothers, Roy said.
“He was a great kid, a great big brother,” Roy said, who “always wanted to be a pilot, for as long as we can all remember.”
One brother, Matthew, 26, is also a Coast Guard Jayhawk pilot, she said.
Sean Krueger’s wife, Kyla, and three children, Trevor, 8, Kerryann, 5, and Ashlynn, 7 months, were visiting her parents in New Hampshire when the crash occurred, Roy said.
Krueger was always dedicated to family, growing up and as a father, Roy said.
Krueger graduated from high school in Waterboro, where he was a member of the swim team before enlisting in the Coast Guard in 1994, Roy said.
“He went into his career to save lives,” Roy said.
He first served on a cutter at Cape Cod, Mass., then attended the U.S. Naval Academy for preparatory training before entering the Coast Guard Academy, where he graduated in 2000, Roy said. An avid sailor, he was a member of the sailing team at the academy, she said.
He then was stationed in Duluth, Minn., before attending flight-training school in Pensacola, Fla., and returning to Cape Cod.
While serving in Cape Cod, Krueger was a member of an aircrew that pulled four fisherman from a life raft who were suffering from mild hypothermia, according to Coast Guard Magazine.
“He was doing what he always wanted to do,” Roy said. “He was someone who saved a lot of lives.”
Under a pilot-exchange program with the British Royal Navy, Krueger was the aircraft commander of an H-3 Sea King helicopter involved in the rescue of a critically injured fisherman in high winds and 40-foot seas nearly 200 miles off the Isles of Scilly in the Atlantic Ocean, according to an online Coast Guard report.
The man didn't survive, but the rescue effort earned Krueger and his crew the prestigious Prince Philip Helicopter Rescue Award, which was presented in London in October.
"It was by far the most challenging rescue that I have ever done," Krueger told a Coast Guard interviewer. "There was a distinct point where we considered aborting due to the challenging conditions; however after one last try, we got our guy aboard."
After his return from England in spring 2009, Krueger, 33, was sent to Coast Guard Air Station Sitka. He was previously stationed at Air Station Cape Cod.
The Aircraft Commander killed in the accident is a former Exchange Pilot who won an award for a 200nm offshore SAR flight in a UK RAF Sea King.
Local News | Coast Guard identifies crewmen killed in copter crash | Seattle Times Newspaper (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012308470_coptercrash09m.html)
A married father of three, Krueger joined the Coast Guard in 1998 and was awarded numerous commendations and medals.
He was born in Seymour, Conn., but grew up in Waterboro, Maine, the son of David and Maura Krueger, said his sister, Meagan Roy, 30, of Grand Isle, VT.
He was the oldest of four children, including two brothers, Roy said.
“He was a great kid, a great big brother,” Roy said, who “always wanted to be a pilot, for as long as we can all remember.”
One brother, Matthew, 26, is also a Coast Guard Jayhawk pilot, she said.
Sean Krueger’s wife, Kyla, and three children, Trevor, 8, Kerryann, 5, and Ashlynn, 7 months, were visiting her parents in New Hampshire when the crash occurred, Roy said.
Krueger was always dedicated to family, growing up and as a father, Roy said.
Krueger graduated from high school in Waterboro, where he was a member of the swim team before enlisting in the Coast Guard in 1994, Roy said.
“He went into his career to save lives,” Roy said.
He first served on a cutter at Cape Cod, Mass., then attended the U.S. Naval Academy for preparatory training before entering the Coast Guard Academy, where he graduated in 2000, Roy said. An avid sailor, he was a member of the sailing team at the academy, she said.
He then was stationed in Duluth, Minn., before attending flight-training school in Pensacola, Fla., and returning to Cape Cod.
While serving in Cape Cod, Krueger was a member of an aircrew that pulled four fisherman from a life raft who were suffering from mild hypothermia, according to Coast Guard Magazine.
“He was doing what he always wanted to do,” Roy said. “He was someone who saved a lot of lives.”
Under a pilot-exchange program with the British Royal Navy, Krueger was the aircraft commander of an H-3 Sea King helicopter involved in the rescue of a critically injured fisherman in high winds and 40-foot seas nearly 200 miles off the Isles of Scilly in the Atlantic Ocean, according to an online Coast Guard report.
The man didn't survive, but the rescue effort earned Krueger and his crew the prestigious Prince Philip Helicopter Rescue Award, which was presented in London in October.
"It was by far the most challenging rescue that I have ever done," Krueger told a Coast Guard interviewer. "There was a distinct point where we considered aborting due to the challenging conditions; however after one last try, we got our guy aboard."
After his return from England in spring 2009, Krueger, 33, was sent to Coast Guard Air Station Sitka. He was previously stationed at Air Station Cape Cod.