--- title: "Coast Guard helicopter crashes in southern Alaska" description: "Four people were onboard the MH-60 Jayhawk when it went down during a Coast Guard training flight near the island town." date: "2026-06-22" modified: "2026-06-22" authors: - name: "Nicholas Slayton" job_title: "Contributing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/nicholas-slayton/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/coast-guard-helicopter-crash-sitka-alaska/" categories: - "Coast Guard" - "Military Branches" - "News" tags: - "adsafety" --- # Coast Guard helicopter crashes in southern Alaska ![Image: A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew with Air Station Sitka and A U.S. Army National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter crew from Juneau, Alaska, fly near each other during a mass casualty exercise near Sitka, Alaska, April 16, 2026. The helicopter crews rescued a large number of training participants that simulated distress in difficult to navigate areas during a large joint exercise involving multiple government agencies and local organizations. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class John Hightower) ]() *A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew with Air Station Sitka takes part in a mass casualty exercise near Sitka, Alaska in April 2026. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class John Hightower.* A Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter crashed Monday morning during a training flight in Alaska. The Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter had four people onboard when it went down near Harbor Mountain in Sitka, a town in the Alexander Archipelago in southern Alaska, several dozen miles south of Juneau. The Jayhawk and its aircrew are assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Sitka. The crash happened Monday morning at around 10:07 a.m. local time, the Coast Guard said. It took nearly an hour for rescue crews to arrive on the scene. No serious injuries were reported, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard Arctic District told Task & Purpose. All four crew members were taken by Sitka Fire and Rescue teams to Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center in Sitka. The cause of the crash isn't known. The Coast Guard Arctic District's account on X posted that a "formal investigation will be conducted to determine the circumstances surrounding the event." The Coast Guard Arctic District covers not only Alaska but the waters around it, including the Prince William Sound and waters in the Pacific. Given Alaska's remote conditions, local and military aircraft are [often used]() to provide emergency search and rescue operations. Both the Coast Guard and National Guard regularly dispatch helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to help people stranded or in crisis at sea. In April, helicopters from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka and the National Guard conducted a mass casualty drill near the town, as part of what the Coast Guard called “a large joint exercise involving multiple government agencies and local organizations.” ## Author Nicholas Slayton is a contributing editor for Task & Purpose, covering conflict for over 12 years, from the Arab Spring to the war in Ukraine. His previous reporting can be found on the non-profit Aslan Media, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Architectural Digest, The Daily Beast, and the Los Angeles Downtown News. You can reach him at nicholas@taskandpurpose.com or find him on Twitter @NSlayton and Bluesky at @nslayton.bsky.social. ### Author social links [Twitter]()