Press Release
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 | 03:16pm
LOUISVILLE, Tenn. – On Tuesday morning, February 24, a flight crew with the Tennessee Army National Guard, based at Joint Base McGhee-Tyson, rescued a hiker suffering from severe cold-weather injuries in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Shortly before 8:30 a.m., Eastern time, the Tennessee National Guard and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency were notified of an injured hiker needing medical assistance and rapid transport to a nearby hospital. The hiker was at the Double Springs Gap Shelter, in a remote area of the park south of Gatlinburg, near the North Carolina border.
Once TEMA was notified of the possible mission, Tennessee National Guardsmen assigned to Task Force Smokey assembled a flight crew and readied a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for flight. After the mission was approved, the aircraft departed Joint Base McGhee-Tyson at approximately 9:30 a.m., flying directly to the rescue site determined by Park Service Rangers. The Rangers were in contact with the hiker through a Garmin inReach that the hiker used to send an emergency SOS to initiate the rescue.
The Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew consisted of two pilots, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Luke Hargrave and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Corey Holloway, the crew chief, Sgt. Christopher Burke, and two flight paramedics, Master Sgt. Tracy Banta and Sgt. 1st Class Nolan Ogle.
Fifteen minutes after launching, the aircraft and crew arrived at the Double Springs Gap Shelter and located the hiker. At roughly 9:55 p.m., the aircraft crew chief, Christopher Burke, lowered Nolan Ogle, the fight paramedic, to the ground by hoist to do a quick medical assessment and prepare the hiker for transport. After a few minutes rendering aid, the hiker and Ogle were then hoisted into the Blackhawk helicopter hovering above where first aid was continued. When everyone was safe on board, the aircraft flew the patient to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.
At approximately 10:25 a.m., the aircraft landed at the medical center where medical personnel rushed the patient into the emergency room. Once the patient was safely in the care of medical professionals, the aircraft returned to Louisville and landed just before 11:00 a.m.
Sgt. 1st Class Nolan Ogle, a flight paramedic with the Tennessee Army National Guard, prepares an injured hiker with severe cold weather injuries to be hoisted into a hovering UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, February 24. (submitted photo)