The US Coast Guard rescued three adults and one child after their vessel became trapped on an ice floe approximately 10 miles (16 kilometres) west of Chefornak. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Arctic District command centre received a report of the stranded hunting party from the Alaska State Troopers at 16:24 on April 11.
The group had been on a subsistence seal hunting expedition and remained trapped on the ice for more than 24 hours before the rescue was coordinated.
While the party freed their 18-foot (five-metre) boat overnight, moving ice prevented them from reaching a shore party that had arrived from the village on snow machines.
Command centres directed the launch of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules aeroplane crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak to respond to the incident. The helicopter aircrew arrived on the scene at approximately 05:00 on April 12 after making refuelling stops in King Salmon and Bethel.
Rescuers successfully hoisted all four people into the aircraft and transported them back to the village with no injuries reported.
Pilot-In-Command Lt. Cmdr. Alexis Chavarria-Aguilar noted that the crew flew more than 800 miles (1,287 kilometres) in near-zero visibility through mountainous terrain and blowing snow. The coast guard reported that the presence of three communication forms on the vessel, including satellite-based systems, significantly improved the ability to locate the group.