March 17, 1993, Wednesday SHOW: MORNING EDITION

Remaining Stranded Hikers Rescued From Smokies

LENGTH: 804 words NEAL CONAN, Host: Hello again; I'm Alex Chadwick. A report from a Chicago organization that studies flying saucer sightings says an unidentified flying object that was sighted recently in Dodge County, Wisconsin remains unidentified. The UFO was seen by sheriffs deputies and private citizens a month and a half ago. The J.L. and Heinich [sp] Center for UFO Studies says it's eliminated the usual explanations, a planet or a star. So, what was it? Well, says the Center, it was a mystery. You're listening to NPR's Morning Edition.

[newscast]

CONAN: Army National Guard helicopters rescued the last 24 members of a Michigan high school hiking team yesterday. The hikers were on a wilderness expedition when the weekend storms stranded them in the Great Smoky Mountains. 93 students were found on Monday, but this group of teachers and students remained unaccounted for until yesterday. A few of the survivors suffered from frostbite. All were taken for treatment to either Knoxville, Tennessee, or Cherokee, North Carolina. Kim Smith of member station WUOT prepared this report.

[sound of army helicopter]

KIM SMITH, Reporter: Two army helicopters from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky landed within minutes of each other at the Timothy Army National Guard Base in Knoxville. They carried 16 students and faculty members from Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School [sp] located outside Detroit. For a week they had hiked and camped along the trails in the mountains, but last weekend, a blizzard stranded them. A blizzard that dumped more than five feet of snow in some parts of the Smokies and whose winds blew snow drifts as much as nine feet high. Megan Willis is a senior at the school and a co-leader of the group. MEGAN WILLIS, Student: This has been an incredible experience, but with the good weather the last two days, we were able to dry out and warm up and thank God, we have had no injuries. SMITH: Willis was among the 117 students and faculty members who left the Detroit area March 5th for their annual wilderness expedition. They split into three groups for their hikes through the mountains. Willis said survival skills she and the other students

had practiced came in handy. Ms. WILLIS: It started snowing so much about one o'clock Friday afternoon and conditions were getting worse, and we decided to camp there for the night, so we found a level area, and we set up a tarp and we got hot drinks into us and everybody in dry clothes, and we just stayed still, and after the blizzard lifted, we started to move around a bit. SMITH: While Willis' group is okay, some of the students rescued in the group rescued Monday are recovering from frostbite and other cold-related ailments in Knoxville hospitals. Army staff sergeant Bryant Fall [sp] was on one of the helicopters that hoisted students one-by-one out of the Smokies. He says it was difficult finding them in a park that covers 575,000 acres and straddles two states. But satellite technology helped in the rescue. BRYANT FALL, U.S. Army: We got a thing in the helicopter that's called a GPS. The GPS bounces off of a the satellite and it pinpointed 'em right down to it. So we seen their stuff all down, you know, in the ground - their sleepin' bags and stuff. SMITH: Besides a group from Michigan, there are many other hikers who had been reported missing. Since the blizzard, Army National Guard helicopters have rescued more than 250 people out of the Great Smokies and the joining Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests. Roger Redding of Knoxville was one of the six hikers rescued. He and five friends stayed in a four-wheel-drive Bronco that stuck in waistdeep snow until a helicopter flew them out on Monday. ROGER REDDING: We thought about our families and we thought about the people that were worrying about us. By the radio, we could tell that there were a lot of people in a lot of trouble. SMITH: Officials don't know how many hikers and campers are still stranded in the mountains. In addition, there are people who live in remote areas in and around the park who haven't had heat or electricity since the blizzard. Tennessee Army National Guard officials say helicopter rescue operations and food drops will continue today as long as the weather cooperates. For National Public Radio, I'm Kim Smith in Knoxville, Tennessee.

CONAN: It's 21 minutes before the hour.

[This transcript has not yet been proofread against audiotape and cannot, for that reason, be guaranteed as to accuracy of speakers and spelling.]

THE PRECEDING TEXT HAS BEEN PROFESSIONALLY TRANSCRIBED. IT HAS NOT YET, HOWEVER, BEEN PROOFREAD AGAINST AUDIOTAPE AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS.

PERSON: MICHAEL MCMAHON (57%); MICHAEL MCMAHON (57%); ORGANIZATION: ARMY NATIONAL GUARD (61%); COUNTRY: UNITED STATES (92%); STATE: APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS (94%); MICHIGAN, USA (92%); WISCONSIN, USA (91%); NORTH CAROLINA, USA (79%); KENTUCKY, USA (79%); TENNESSEE, USA (79%); CITY: DETROIT, MI, USA (92%); COMPANY: ARMY NATIONAL GUARD (61%); GEOGRAPHIC: UNITED STATES (92%); APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS (94%); MICHIGAN, USA (92%); WISCONSIN, USA (91%); NORTH CAROLINA, USA (79%); KENTUCKY, USA (79%); TENNESSEE, USA (79%); DETROIT, MI, USA (92%); SUBJECT: Weather HIKING (91%); MOUNTAINS (90%); ARMIES (90%); RESCUE OPERATIONS (90%); STUDENTS & STUDENT LIFE (90%); MILITARY HELICOPTERS (90%); COLD INJURIES (89%); PRIMARY & SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS (74%); EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION EMPLOYEES (74%); RESEARCH INSTITUTES (73%); SHERIFFS (72%); SECONDARY SCHOOLS (70%); HIGH SCHOOLS (69%); WEATHER (69%); LOAD-DATE: March 18, 1993 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH Copyright 1993 National Public Radio (R) All Rights Reserved

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