Last modified Wed., February 06, 2008 - 04:01 PM
Originally created Thursday, February 7, 2008

HS-7 'Dusty Dogs' rescue shipmates

From HS-7

A landing signal enlisted, assigned to the "Dusty Dogs" of HS-7, stands by as the pilots of an HH-60H Seahawk go through their pre-flight inspections while an SH-60F Seahawk lifts off from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). File photo

An aircrew from the HS-7 "Dusty Dogs" safely rescued three downed F-18 Hornet crewmembers after two aircraft, an F/A-18E and an F/A-18F from Carrier Air Wing Three, crashed during operations in the Persian Gulf while conducting flight operations off USS Harry S. Truman Jan. 7.

The rescue began as Dusty 615, crewed by Lt. Patrick Morley, Lt. j.g. Collin Fox, AW2 Sean Attwill and AW3 Johnny Garcia, was flying plane guard around the carrier.

A "Mayday" call was suddenly heard over the radio at approximately 7:30 p.m. after the F-18 crews collided in mid-air and ejected. HS-7 was immediately tasked with the search and rescue (SAR) mission as Dusty 615 headed toward the estimated position of the downed aircraft, about 25 nautical miles from the carrier.

Several minutes later, Dusty 614 was called to launch to assist in the search. The crew, consisting of Lt. Brent Peterson, Lt. j.g. Jonathan Dorsey, AW1 Logan Robertson and AW2 Brenton Graham dressed out and headed to the helicopter. The honed skills of the crew and flight deck personnel enabled Dusty 614 to get off the flight deck quickly.