RIP Coast Guardsmen
Posted on 12/08/2004 11:41:17 PM PST by naturalman1975
A US Coast Guard helicopter crashed into the Bering Sea with 10 people aboard while conducting a rescue after a powerless bulk freighter grounded on an island in south-western Alaska.
The Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley picked up four of the 10 people. Six were unaccounted for, the Coast Guard said.
The Selendang Ayu, a 738ft-long freighter loaded with soybeans and 1.7 million litres of fuel, broke in two when it ran aground on Unalaska Island in the Aleutian chain, the Coast Guard said.
Sad news ping.
RIP Coast Guardsmen
By Don Hunter, Megan Holland and Doug O'Harra
(Published: December 8, 2004)
A Malaysian freighter broke apart off the west coast of Unalaska Island, and a Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter crashed while attempting to rescue its crew, six of whom were still missing late Wednesday night.
Coast Guard Lt. Cecil McNutt said 10 people were aboard the helicopter when it went down about 6:20 p.m. Four were rescued by a second helicopter, and a search was under way for the crew members missing in roiling, pitch-black seas.
The second helicopter, an HH-65 Dolphin from the Coast Guard cutter Alex Haley, also picked up the master of the 738-foot Selendang Ayu and a Coast Guard rescue swimmer from the bow of the ship. The airlift was a treacherous affair, with the ship’s final crew members hoisted one at a time from the vessel’s bow in pitching and rolling conditions, Dan Magone, who was in a helicopter watching the rescue, said from Dutch Harbor.
Magone said the crew members were all wearing life jackets but not survival suits. “Visibility was terrible,” Magone said. “We couldn’t see the ship from 200 yards away.”
The four people rescued after the helicopter went down were flown to Dutch Harbor for treatment. Their conditions weren’t available.
Thanks for the update.
"...The water temperature was about 43 degrees and the waves were as high as 20 feet in the search area. “The survival time is right around three hours in those conditions,” said Rear Adm. James Olson, commander of the Coast Guard in Alaska, about four hours after the crash. “We’ll search as long as we can be effective throughout the night.”
I'll let everyone know what I hear today at the Coast Guard base in Coos Bay.
Please pray for the men and women in the US Coast Guard.
God be with the families.
Prayers up. I did hear this on the news this morning. Thanks for the ping.
Caught this early on FNC this AM...prayers for all concerned.
Prayers being sent Tonkin.
Prayers for the crew.
God Bless those Coasties!! I don't think most people realize just how dangerous a job those men and women have, especially the ones involved in Search and Rescue!
Ditto that. The Air Force PJs have the motto -- "So Others May Live"
That fits the Coast Guard as well. Brave, dedicated people. God bless them.
BTTT!!!!!!!
Thanks, Tonk. Heard this on the way in to the salt mines and my heart sank. Prayin' like there's no tomorrow...
Prayers sent.
Ahh... nuts.
They go out into conditions nobody else should to save lives.
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