Ranger Survives Helicopter Crash, Rescued by CareFlight

Fred Hunter felt something biting his bloodied leg as he lay immobilized in Australia's Kakadu National Park, but what happened next shocked even the rescue medics.

The ranger had been conducting routine feral horse control from a helicopter near Gunlom Falls in 2019 when the motor suddenly cut out. Within seconds, Hunter, pilot, and fellow ranger Ian Conroy plummeted straight down.

"We went from full revs to idle, and in a matter of seconds we went straight down into the ground," Hunter recalled. One rotor snapped in half, slicing through the motor, cabin, and even cutting their rifles as they hit the earth.

Hunter regained consciousness to find the pilot's head in his lap and the motor on top of them. Despite his injuries, he pulled himself free, activated an emergency beacon, and radioed for help before dragging the injured pilot from the wreckage.

Then his body gave out. As he lay on the ground unable to move, covered in aviation fuel and blood, he felt a sharp stinging sensation on his leg.

"I said 'get those scissors and cut my trousers off, I can feel something biting me,'" Hunter told the CareFlight medics who arrived just over an hour later. When they cut away his pants, they discovered meat ants had crawled inside his leg where the skin had peeled back from groin to calf, exposing the muscle beneath.

CareFlight winched all three men to safety and flew them to Darwin. All survived despite severe injuries.

The Bright Side

This week, CareFlight celebrated 20 years of service in the Northern Territory, having completed over 100,000 missions. The organization has become so integral to remote communities that "CareFlighted" is now used as a verb across the region.

"Medical staff in remote communities tell me they breathe a sigh of relief when they hear CareFlight overhead," said general manager Jodie Mills Mitchell, a former flight nurse. For patients in places like Arnhem Land, where medical facilities can be hours away, that sound means hope is arriving.

Hunter faced a unique psychological challenge after the crash: being rescued by helicopter immediately after surviving a helicopter crash. "When I was being winched up, it was a surreal feeling looking up and watching the chopper and the blades, and there was a moment where I was really, really scared," he said.

After 38 years as a Kakadu ranger, Hunter now has a young daughter and carries visible scars from that terrifying day. But he remains grateful for the team that saved his life and continues serving Australia's most remote communities.