The first persons to be on the scene of the Monday night’s accident involving an air station Sitka helicopter were members of the crew of the fishing vessel it was assigned to aid. Two brothers on board Lydia Marie Lydia Marie played a critical part in the rescue of the air crew that was killed.
Logan Padgett is the captain of the Lydia Marie, a 44-foot wooden troller with a base in Wrangell. The Lydia Marie started taking off about eight p.m. Monday, in the rough waters in Frederick Sound. Padgett issued an emergency mayday and the vessel headed for the shores of Read Island, which are protected. Read Island in Farragut Bay.
The helicopter took off at Air Station Sitka and made the journey of 81 miles up to Read Island by 10:15. Padgett talked to the air crew via radio, alerting them that the flood was under control.
There was a problem.
“Well that dark.” Padgett explained. “So we were gazing at the helicopter’s lights and there wasn’t much to look at. We could hear the rotating rotors at first followed by a it was a loud crash the next. Then silence.”
Padgett started the Lydia Marie’s light. Padgett along with his younger brother, rowed on the shore, and met one the helicopter’s pilots at the beach near the spot where the aircraft came to rest and then flipped in the plants. He brought the pilot an portable VHF radio to ask for assistance.
Padgett claims it didn’t seem strange to him to be being the one to come to help Coast Guard personnel. Coast Guard.
“It’s simply people helping each other in that moment,” he said.
Padgett claims he has no knowledge about helicopters or what could have led to the accident. As an experienced mariner, he have an understanding of the weather, and it wasn’t an ideal night.
“I am aware that visibility was horrible,” he said. “And the winds were horrendous. It was poor air conditions.”
Overall, Padgett says he and his brother sat for five or six hours at the beach on Read Island helping the air crew. They brought mattresses from Lydia Marie and utilized their radios to talk with Petersburg emergency responders as well as state troopers.
The helicopters from Air Station Sitka came to transport the crew to safe haven. After the dawn break the cutter Elderberry was on hand to take Lydia Marie. Lydia Marie.
When asked if he’ll have any particular memories of the event that took place, Padgett said, “It was just one cold, long night.”
