Two Jolly Green Twos and a Navy Hard Landing in the Mountains, an Air Force Rescue of Five

An Air Force rescue team launched two HH-60W helicopters, the Jolly Green II, to recover the crew of a Navy MH-60S Knighthawk that made a hard landing in mountainous terrain. Five Navy personnel were aboard, and all five were recovered. Everyone came home.

That’s the headline, and it’s a good one. But the single line of news doesn’t capture what an operation like this actually involves - the machines, the crews, and the coordinated system that made a fast response possible.

What Happened in the Navy Helicopter Rescue

The aircraft that went down is a Navy MH-60S, spoken in the fleet as the “M-H-60 Sierra,” and known as the Knighthawk. It belongs to the same H-60 family most people picture as the Black Hawk, but navalized and built for the fleet. It handles logistics, vertical replenishment, search and rescue, and special warfare support. It’s a workhorse.

On this day, it made a hard landing in the mountains. “Hard landing” is a specific, careful phrase. Without an investigation, there’s no responsible way to speculate on a cause. What’s known is that the aircraft came down hard enough, in terrain rough enough, that flying home wasn’t an option. The answer was to get help in there.

That help came from the Air Force.

What Is the HH-60W Jolly Green II?

The rescue aircraft were two HH-60W helicopters - the “H-H-60 Whiskey.” The name carries history. The Jolly Green Giant lineage traces back to the large Sikorsky rescue helicopters of the Vietnam era, the aircraft that flew into the worst places on the map to pull downed aircrew out. The Air Force kept that lineage alive, and the HH-60W is the newest branch on that tree - a purpose-built combat rescue helicopter that replaced the older Pave Hawks in that mission.

The HH-60W isn’t a Black Hawk with a fresh paint job. It’s built around the rescue mission:

• Bigger internal fuel, roughly doubling the range compared to the airframe it’s based on
• Air-to-air refueling capability, so it can reach out and stay out
• A rescue hoist and defensive systems
• Pararescuemen (PJs) in the back - specialists trained to come down the cable, stabilize an injured survivor, and bring them back up into the aircraft

So when two Jolly Green IIs launch, what launches is not just helicopters. It’s a complete rescue system: airframes designed to reach remote locations, crews trained to operate in punishing terrain, and specialists whose entire job is recovering other people.

Why This Matters for General Aviation Pilots

Most general aviation pilots will never call on a combat rescue squadron. But the same national fabric of search and rescue - the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, the Coast Guard, the Civil Air Patrol, and the National Guard - is what comes looking when a small airplane goes down in the backcountry.

Military rescue units train constantly, and that readiness doesn’t stay locked inside the military. It’s the same capability that gets flexed when a Cessna 172 goes missing over the mountains and someone needs to find it.

The survivors in this case were found because someone knew where to look. In the military operation, that was a coordinated launch with trained crews and the full apparatus behind them. For the rest of us, the lesson underneath the rescue is the one we can actually act on.

How to Make Sure You Can Be Found

The reason two helicopters could launch toward five people in the mountains is that the system knew there were five people in the mountains. Location known, response fast. That’s the whole game - and it applies directly to your flying.

Take these steps before your next flight over rough country:

1. File a flight plan, or use flight following. Let someone know your route and timing, especially over remote terrain.
2. Carry a way to be found. A 406 MHz emergency locator transmitter (ELT) - the modern standard - or a personal locator beacon (PLB) in your flight bag is the difference between a rescue that starts in minutes and a search that starts only when you fail to show up.
3. Squawk and talk. Stay in contact so your position is known, not guessed.

Ask yourself an honest question: if you went down on the next leg you’re planning - over the next ridgeline or stretch of trees - how quickly would anyone know where to point? If that answer makes you uncomfortable, it costs you nothing to fix before you fly again.

The Takeaway Behind the Headline

Stories like this move fast and then disappear behind the next headline. But each one is a reminder that the aircraft matters less than the people and the planning around it. Two of the most capable rescue helicopters in the world are still just metal until you put trained crews in them and a coordinated system behind them. The machine is only ever half the answer.

Key Takeaways

• All five Navy personnel aboard an MH-60S Knighthawk were recovered after a hard landing in mountainous terrain.
• The rescue was carried out by two Air Force HH-60W helicopters - the Jolly Green II - the purpose-built combat rescue aircraft that replaced the Pave Hawk.
• The HH-60W offers roughly double the range of its base airframe, air-to-air refueling, a rescue hoist, and pararescuemen (PJs) trained for survivor recovery.
• The same search-and-rescue network that supported this mission is what responds when a general aviation aircraft goes down.
• A 406 MHz ELT or PLB, a filed flight plan, and flight following are what make a fast rescue possible for civilian pilots.