Coast Guard Rescues

0 Comments | Naval Aviation News, March, 2001 | by Amy L. Pittmann, | Ed Wright

Coast Guard search and rescue units have been busy since last fall, doing what they do best.

After a search that covered approximately 51,000 square miles, two men and their dog were rescued on 4 October 2000, 50 nautical miles northwest of Oahu, Hawaii. The victims were stranded for four days after heading off course and running out of fuel in a 15-foot skiff. One victim's wife had contacted the Coast Guard after receiving a cellular phone call from her husband in which she could make out only one word, "gas." A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin searched into the night. The next day, two C-130s tracked various search areas and were joined by additional Coast Guard HH-65s, a Civil Air Patrol rescue plane and a Navy P-3 Orion. On the fourth day, the P-3 spotted the skiff and dropped a rescue pack while calling for assistance. A Navy H-60 Seahawk from HSL-37 arrived on scene and took the victims to MCB Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Coast Guard Group Fort Macon, Atlantic Beach, N.C., received a distress call from the 55-foot motor yacht Seas The Day on 19 October 2000, and USCG cutter Albacore was dispatched to assist. A Marine Corps rescue helicopter flew to the scene and recovered the boaters, who were flown to Atlantic Beach. Albacore remained on scene to pick up debris.

On 21 October 2000, an HH-60 Jayhawk from CGAS Elizabeth City, N.C., medevaced a crew member from USCG cutter Escanaba, approximately 300 nautical miles from Virginia Beach, Va. The patient was suffering from appendicitis and was flown to Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Va., for treatment.

On 3 December 2000, an HH-65 Dolphin from CGAS Traverse City, Mich., while deployed on board USCG cutter Northland, rescued eight fishermen lost in the Caribbean Sea. The victims, located in 6 to 8 foot seas and 20 to 25 knot winds, were hoisted aboard the helicopter and flown to Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands.

On 17 December 2000, 34 crew members of SeaBreeze I were rescued off the coast of Cape Charles, Va. The vessel was en route to Charleston, S.C., for repairs when the engine room began flooding. Rescue Coordination Center Norfolk, Va., directed three HH-60 Jayhawks and two C-130 Hercules from CGAS Elizabeth City, N.C., to rescue the crew. The C-130 first on scene coordinated the effort for the helicopters. The first Jayhawk brought 26 crewmen on board and the remaining eight crewmen, including the captain, were rescued by the second Jayhawk. The survivors were treated for mild hypothermia at NAS Oceana, Va. All were released but one victim, who was taken to a Virginia Beach hospital.

On 8 January, a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin from CGAS Atlantic City, N.J., responded to a distress call from a 500-foot tanker requesting a medevac for a possible heart attack victim. The helicopter located the tanker and the man was hoisted aboard for transfer to medical services.