RENO — All four members of a search crew on a Navy helicopter survived a crash along the California-Nevada line and were rescued the next day, and the missing Sierra hiker they were looking for was found safe over the weekend.
The helicopter crew escaped injury but had to spend Friday night in the rugged wilderness before they were rescued Saturday from a mountain ridge on the state line east of Yosemite National Park about 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, authorities said.
The Navy is investigating the cause of the crash reported at about 5 p.m. Friday, Navy spokesman Zip Upham said. The Navy MH-60 Knighthawk had been supporting a Mono County search for a lost hiker near Boundary Peak in the Inyo National Forest.
Ronald Bolen, an Oklahoma University professor who had been the target of a search since he was reported missing last week on a trail to Boundary Peak, was found by hikers late Saturday or Sunday in good condition and transported to safety for medical treatment, the Mono County sheriff’s office said.
A family member told the Reno Gazette Journal that Bolen was dehydrated but otherwise in good shape.