Cordova Forward Deployment Wraps Up for Jayhawk Crews

Jay Barrett/KMXT
The forward-deployment of Air Station Kodiak helicopters to Cordova for the summer is over for another year. The last MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and its crew were scheduled to return to Kodiak yesterday.
Coast Guard spokesman Grant DeVuyst said the crews flew 26 cases since May 1st, with 11 rescues.
Air Station Kodiak sends crews to Cordova every summer because of the increase in vessel traffic during the salmon season, much in the same way it sends them to St. Paul for crabbing in the Bering Sea.
Lt. Francis Wolfe, a pilot with Air Station Kodiak, said the forward operating base reduces the distance aircrews have to travel when responding to emergencies in the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound.