National Guard crew rescues Alum Cave Trail hiker in Great Smoky Mountains

A Great Smoky Mountain National hiker with a severe head injury was rescued by the National Guard on Sept. 5. A UH-60 Blackhawk crew from Knoxville's 1-230th Assault Helicopter Battalion coordinated with park officials to land southeast of Gatlinburg, according to a Tennessee National Guard statement. The hiker was on a remote part of the Alum Cave Trail. The patient was hoisted into the helicopter where guardsmen performed first aid. The crew had to land at Joint Base McGhee-Tyson to meet an ambulance for eth patient because of a storm near the hospital made it unsafe to land. This summer, the crew rescued a severely injured visitor from the park after the visitor had been thrown from a horse. The UH-60 Blackhawk crew landed at the park's Sugarland Visitor Center parking lot to retrieve the patient. Even earlier this year, the Tennessee Army National Guard rescued two hikers suffering injures in separate incidents. And a 65-year-old woman died in March after falling from a cliff on Alum Cave Trail in the park, park officials confirmed to Knox News.