Mid-Missouri native spots F-16 pilot after NC collision

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Brizendine, a Taos native, took part in the rescue of an Air Force pilot after a midair collision in North Carolina earlier this week.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Brizendine, a Taos native, took part in the rescue of an Air Force pilot after a midair collision in North Carolina earlier this week.

A Taos, Mo., native who now serves in the U.S. Coast Guard was among those who rescued the pilot of an F-16 fighter jet involved in a mid-air crash on Tuesday.

The collision between an F-16 and a Cessna destroyed the Cessna and killed the two people aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Brizendine was on a helicopter headed back to the Coast Guard's Air Station Savannah in Georgia, when the crew received instructions to change their route and head northeast of Charleston, South Carolina, to check out a report of a low-flying aircraft that might be in trouble.

Such reports are sometimes unfounded, but still have to be checked out.

"We saw a cloud of smoke coming out of the wooded area north of Charleston," said Brizendine, who attended school at Blair Oaks from kindergarten through high school.

Pieces of jet aircraft were on the ground and trees were on fire where it appeared an aircraft had entered the wooded area.

"So at that point we knew we were dealing with a confirmed aircraft crash site," he said. About that time, they had a report the pilot had ejected. The crew began searching for the pilot, orbiting around from the center of the crash outward.

"It wasn't too much longer than that we were flying and I spotted an orange and white parachute. And there was a survival raft with some gear in it. And sure enough, the Air Force pilot was standing next to all of that."

They also saw other people on the ground at the crash site - good Samaritans who appeared to be looking for the pilot.

Brizendine, who fixes helicopters as an aviation maintenance technician, also operates a helicopter hoist with a rescue hook. The helicopter pilot flew low toward the top of the trees, and Brizendine lowered a member of his crew to check on the pilot from the ground to determine if he needed medical attention.

"We were on the radio with my rescue swimmer, who was on the ground, and he checked out the pilot and it didn't appear he had any significant injuries. He was cognizant and claiming he was fine. He said he didn't even hit any trees on the way down with his parachute, which was pretty lucky because it was a pretty heavily wooded area."

At that point, a man in a pickup truck pulled up to the scene. The rescue swimmer determined it would be safer to let the F-16 pilot ride in the pickup to the main road, where they could meet the ambulance.

"Our whole job is to assess the risk and weigh the gain," Brizendine said. "If he was injured and in need of medical assistance right away, it probably would have altered how we decided to treat the mission with him. But we decided that was the best course of action."

For Brizendine, who has served almost nine years in the Coast Guard, this was a first.

"I try to block out of my mind all of the variables that I can't control, and I just focus on what I'm doing," he said. "So I wasn't overly excited or shaken or nervous; I just knew what I had to do ahead of me to perform my job."

In the Coast Guard, he said he trains for various situations, so he felt confident he could handle whatever was thrown at him.

He said he and his crew were just doing their job and didn't do anything heroic, but that he has seen comments to that effect on social media.

"It's neat to see the support," he said. "I know my parents are proud. I'm sure a lot of people who I knew and grew up with are proud, too. It's just a little surreal, though, now knowing that there's a couple of people who lost their lives. It's great that we found the Air Force pilot, but I want to try to remember that there's a couple of families that aren't going to have someone come back and to keep them in your thoughts and prayers."