When I was stationed at Whidbey Island, my roommate's best friend was also an airframe mechanic but attached to the SAR squadron on base. They grew up together in St. Louis Park, MN. During the same time, I was serving TAD in the nuclear weapons loading school. It was on the other side of the same hangar as SAR.
I got to know Rick through Chuck, my roommate. We talked sometimes while out in the hangar. Though I never became close friends with Rick, I can recall his face well from the times I saw him out working on the helo and he was never without a smile. He became trained as a rescuer as part of the squadron.
On his last flight, they went up into the Cascades to rescue two hikers stuck on an outcropping ledge, one with a broken leg. I recall it was known the weather was going to be rough that week but they went anyway. The hikers shouldn't have been there. The helo had been on station for some time trying to get the hikers hooked up.
All the story I could ever get was the hikers were being put in harnesses as a basket wouldn't work in that situation. Maybe there was not enough room or a basket was too far down and out and would have swung too much risking knocking it back into the rock face.
The rescuer on the ledge along with the hikers was fine. The helo was pushed into the rock face by gusts. All on board perished, including Rick. I remember there being some anger toward the hikers, saying they had no business being up there. No one really thinks about the risk the SAR guys take until one is lost.