The aircrew of Jolly 91, an HH-60G helicopter with the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield, helped save the life of a downed pilot Jan. 29 in the waters off of San Francisco. Jolly 91 was heading back home after a full day of training with the Coast Guard in San Francisco Bay when the call came in about a pilot whose airplane had just crashed off of Pillar Point, southwest of the city. While the helicopter headed to the point, a Coast Guard C-130 dropped a life raft to the pilot. Once the HH-60 arrived, the aircrew extended a rescue strop to hoist him into the helicopter and then carried him back to land where he was treated for hypothermia. “It was pretty cool to be in the right place at the right time and know that you have just saved a life,” said. Capt. Nathan Nowaski, aircraft commander of Jolly 91. With this mission, the Air Guard wing has now saved 599 lives. (Moffett report by Capt. Alyson Teeter)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.