Fri, Sep 21, 2007
Two Rescues This Week Highlight Importance Of Whirlybirds
Coast Guard helicopters came to the rescue of two boaters in
distress this week.
On Tuesday, a Coast Guard HH-60 (type shown above) airlifted a
50-year-old male from a fishing vessel 80 miles northwest of
Lincoln City, OR. The crew of the 40-foot vessel Karen Jan
contacted Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, OR, by high-frequency
radio Monday at 9:29 pm to request assistance for a man with a
medical condition.
The HH-60 crew, from Air Station Astoria, was launched and later
hoisted the man. The crew transferred him to an awaiting ambulance
in Astoria.
On the other side of the country -- and not even 12 hours later
-- another Coast Guard helo rescued one person from a 32-foot
sailboat south of Apalachicola, FL early Wednesday morning.
A watchstander at Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans received
the distress call with a report of a disabled and damaged sailing
vessel with one man aboard. The man contacted his wife via cell
phone stating that his vessel had lost electrical power,
propulsion, and high winds had significantly damaged his main sail
leaving him essentially adrift for over five hours. The boat was
located approximately 20 miles south of St. George Island,
Florida.
Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans launched an HH-65C Dolphin
helicopter crew to rescue the man. The crew arrived on scene to
find the vessel floundering in six-to-eight foot seas... and over
30 knots of wind.
The rescue swimmer was deployed to the water near the vessel,
assisted the man into the rescue basket and both were hoisted
safely into the helicopter (type shown above). The aircrew
transported the man to Apalachicola Municipal Airport, and later
released him in excellent condition.
Score two more wins for the whirlybirds... nice job,
everybody.
More News
Also: B-29 Superfortress Reunion, FAA Wants Controllers, Spirit Airlines Pulls Back, Gogo Galileo Van's Aircraft posted a short video recapping the goings-on around their reorganiz>[...]
Light Gun A handheld directional light signaling device which emits a brilliant narrow beam of white, green, or red light as selected by the tower controller. The color and type of>[...]
"The journey to this achievement started nearly a decade ago when a freshly commissioned Gentry, driven by a fascination with new technologies and a desire to contribute significan>[...]
"Our driven and innovative team of military and civilian Airmen delivers combat power daily, ensuring our nation is ready today and tomorrow." Source: General Duke Richardson, AFMC>[...]
Aircraft Conflict Predicted conflict, within EDST of two aircraft, or between aircraft and airspace. A Red alert is used for conflicts when the predicted minimum separation is 5 na>[...]