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The family of a hiker missing in Yellowstone was dealt a blow after authorities refused a proposed helicopter trip to help with the search.
A volunteer team drew up a detailed rescue plan that involved taking experienced climbers to Eagle Peak to help locate 22-year-old Austin King.
But it has emerged they were given a hard “no” by the US Forest Service just before 10pm on Monday night – hours before the voluntary climbers were set to fly out at 8am on Tuesday, reports Cowboy State Daily.
King’s father Brian King-Henke has been trying to organize a final rescue mission to find his son - who has not been heard from in a month - before wintery conditions set in.
John Lamb, one of the coordinators of the volunteer searches, said it was made clear to him that it was deemed “too risky” to head out – especially since the search had transitioned to a “recovery” rather than a “rescue”, Cowboy State Daily reports.
Yellowstone National Park had tried to assist but Superintendent Cam Sholly told the outlet that they hadn’t received enough information regarding the planned helicopter flight such as its “capacity to fly in high, mountainous terrain” as well as the pilot’s previous mountain-flying experience, it detailed.
Sholly said that the last thing the park would want to do was jeopardize any of the searcher’s safety.
Volunteer coordinator Lamb said: “The whole plan and the helicopter service was 100% qualified. We’re not trying to bash the park itself, and all the good workers that work up there. I believe every searcher was searching diligently and doing everything they can.”
Lambs’ disappointment over the flight being given the red light was evident as he “fought back tears” at the decision when he spoke to Cowboy State Daily reporters, the outlet wrote.
Voluntary rescuers had detailed personnel, locations, backup, communications, as well as navigation and contact information in their proposed plan. The helicopter requesting permission to fly out was reportedly from a private tour guiding service in West Yellowstone, Montana.
The crew – who intended to head out to the Table Mountain ridge – involved “three volunteers with a combined 39 years of search and rescue experience” the outlet shared.
Lamb said they intended to head to the southwest region – the less commonly searched “Table Mountain” – as cellphone pings had buzzed signal points in the area suggesting that the 22-year-old may have headed toward Yellowstone Lake.
King left for his solo expedition on 14 September and hasn’t been heard from since 17 September.
An earlier version of this story reported that the National Parks Service in Yellowstone had given the ‘hard no’ to the helicopter flight, but has now been corrected to say this came from the US Forest Service.
