On the morning of February 24, 2026, a Tennessee Army National Guard flight crew from Joint Base McGhee-Tyson in Louisville, Tennessee, successfully rescued a hiker suffering from severe cold-weather injuries at the Double Springs Gap Shelter in the remote southern section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, near the North Carolina border south of Gatlinburg.

Shortly before 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the National Guard were alerted to the hiker’s plight after the individual sent an emergency SOS via a Garmin inReach device. Park Service Rangers coordinated with the hiker and pinpointed the location. Task Force Smokey quickly assembled a crew and prepared a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, which departed the base around 9:30 a.m.

The flight crew—consisting of pilots Chief Warrant Officer 4 Luke Hargrave and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Corey Holloway, crew chief Sgt. Christopher Burke, and flight paramedics Master Sgt. Tracy Banta and Sgt. 1st Class Nolan Ogle—reached the shelter in about 15 minutes. At approximately 9:55 a.m., Burke lowered paramedic Ogle by hoist to assess the hiker, provide immediate aid, and prepare them for extraction. The hiker and Ogle were then hoisted aboard the hovering helicopter, where further care continued en route. The aircraft transported the patient directly to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, landing around 10:25 a.m., allowing emergency room staff to take over care promptly. The Blackhawk returned to base in Louisville shortly before 11:00 a.m., concluding the swift and coordinated rescue operation.