Alaska Air National Guardsmen rescued an injured Iditarod sled dog race musher sixty-one miles southeast of McGrath, Alaska, on 4 March 2014. The musher was injured while attempting to collect a loose dog. The 176th Wing, the Alaska ANG unit at JB Elmendorf Richardson, launched an HC-130 Combat King personnel recovery aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, each with a team of Guardian Angel rescue personnel on board, shortly after 8:00 p.m. After several attempts to find a safe flying route, the helicopter crew refueled inflight and was successful in finding a safe route that had been scouted by the HC-130 crew. The musher was located at 11:00 p.m. and flown to an Anchorage hospital approximately one hour later.
