Mount Olympus Rescue Mission

"In recognition for their extraordinary, lasting contribution to Canadian aviation, the members of the Mount Olympus Rescue Mission, were awarded the inaugural Canadian Aviation Distinction award in 2024."  

In early December 1995, the 715-foot cargo ship Mount Olympus was over 1,600 kilometers east of Virginia Beach and sinking. The HMCS Calgary, returning to Canada after service in the Persian Gulf (enforcing sanctions on Iraq), diverted to assist, racing over 900 kms through heavy North Atlantic seas to reach the ailing vessel. Some 80 kms out, the Calgary launched its CH-124 Sea King, piloted by Captain Daniel Burden. The chopper reached the Mount Olympus at 1:00 a.m.

Hovering backwards in the darkness and in gale-force winds, the Sea King’s tail facing the ship’s forecastle, the rescuers began their work. Sergeant Frederick Vallis and Lieutenant Gordon Sharpe began to winch down Master Corporal Robert Fisher onto the vessel’s pitching deck, 15 meters below. One by one Fisher attached himself to a survivor and the pair were hauled up to the Sea King before being ferried to safety. For more than four hours, and over the course of five trips, the rescuers repeated this dangerous procedure – several times Fisher was nearly crushed against the ship’s hull – until the Mount Olympus’ entire thirty-person crew (29 sailors and one spouse) was saved.

For their parts in this daring mission, Daniel Burden was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross; Lieutenant-Commander William Erhardt, a United States Navy exchange officer and co-pilot on the flight, Frederick Vallis, and Gordon Sharpe each received the Meritorious Service Medal; and Robert Fisher was awarded the Star of Courage (a Canadian Bravery Decoration second to the Cross of Valour). The entire rescue crew was awarded the FAI Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship in 1995.