Two of the U.S. Coast Guard crew members who were involved in a helicopter crash in Southeast Alaska late Monday night were released from the hospital Wednesday.
According to a Coast Guard press release, the other two crew members with severe injuries remain hospitalized in Washington state, but their conditions have improved.
The crew from Air Station Sitka was on a search and rescue mission, responding to a fishing boat that was taking on water near Farragut Bay, about 20 miles northwest of Petersburg, when their helicopter crashed on Read Island. While Petersburg’s search and rescue team and coast guard crews responded to the downed helicopter, the Coast Guard Cutter Elderberry oversaw the dewatering of the fishing vessel Lydia Marie and escorted the boat back to Petersburg.
The Coast Guard has not released the names of the crew members or any information on what may have caused the crash, though weather conditions at the time of the accident included reduced visibility in the area from rain and snow storms and up to 45-mph winds. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.