Coast Guard responds to reported helicopter crash near Sitka, Alaska

Search-and-rescue crews were dispatched to Sitka after a reported crash involving a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, and the service said first responders were heading to the area as the situation unfolded. Early reports did not immediately confirm injuries or how many people were aboard, and the Coast Guard said a formal investigation would be conducted to determine what happened.

The response was underway Monday, June 22, 2026, the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District said. The reported crash involved one of the service’s MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters, a workhorse aircraft used frequently in Alaska for search-and-rescue missions in harsh weather and over rough water.

The incident put renewed attention on the Coast Guard’s aviation operations around Sitka, where Air Station Sitka regularly flies missions across a stretch of coastline known for rapidly changing conditions, cold seas and difficult terrain. The area’s geography often forces crews to operate over mountains, in narrow channels and far from immediate medical help, making both rescues and response efforts more complex.

The new report came less than three years after another Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk from Air Station Sitka crashed in Alaska during a search-and-rescue mission in November 2023. That aircraft went down near Read Island, south of Juneau, and four Coast Guard service members were injured. The service later formed an MH-60 mishap crew support team after that crash, and the team was recognized in June 2024 for its response.

The latest report added to concerns about the risks borne by crews who routinely fly into Alaska’s toughest conditions to reach people in distress. While the Coast Guard had not released details on the number of people aboard or the status of the crew in the Sitka incident, the service said the response was active and that investigators would examine the circumstances surrounding the event.