Coast Guard helicopter crash during rescue off Alaskan Coast

[Caldric]

Crew is still missing. As we think about the Soldiers in far-flung areas of the world, in Alaska the Coast Guard is constantly saving people from one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. We seem to think it routine and "just their job". Truly sad when we lose these servicemen who will not hesitate to jump into the icy waters of the Bering Sea or North Pacific for anyone no matter nationality or circumstance, truly the silent selfless heroes of the world.

It was not clear if those missing were Coast Guard or crewmembers from the ship.

Rescue copter goes down
Four saved; six still missing from flight to save crew on stricken ship

By DON HUNTER, MEGAN HOLLAND and DOUG O'HARRA
Anchorage Daily News

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 those 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.

The water temperature was about 43 degrees and the waves were as high as 20 feet in the search area, according to The Associated Press.

"The survival time is right around three hours in those conditions," Rear Adm. Jim Olson, commander of the Coast Guard in Alaska, told The Associated Press about four hours after the crash. "We'll search as long as we can be effective throughout the night."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the missing crew members," Olson said in a late night Anchorage press conference.

About an hour after the crash, the freighter, owned by IMC Transworld of Singapore-based IMC Group, broke apart. Coast Guard officials late Wednesday said conditions at the site were too dark to say whether the vessel had sunk or spilled any fuel.

Read the rest at http://www.adn.com/front/story/5890286p-5802240c.html





The Malaysian freighter Seldang Ayu, shown at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, ran aground and broke apart near Unalaska Island around 7:15 p.m. A Coast Guard Jayhawk attempting to rescue crew members from the vessel crashed at 6:20 p.m. Four people were rescued; six are missing. (Photo by LAUREN ADAMS / Unalaska Community Broadcasting)


The freighter Selendang Ayu sits disabled and adrift 27 miles northwest of Bogoslof Island in the Bering Sea on Tuesday. (Photo by U.S. Coast Guard)

Published: December 9, 2004

[Hoss68]

Not everyone forgets what the Coast Guard risks every day. Not just rescue, but drug smuggling too... May they rest in peace...

Can someone please copy this to the Coast Guard forum. Ollie reads it regularly, but not always this forum. Thank you.

[Woodmonkey]

Originally Posted by Caldric

Crew is still missing. As we think about the Soldiers in far-flung areas of the world, in Alaska the Coast Guard is constantly saving people from one of the most dangerous bodies of water in the world. We seem to think it routine and "just their job". Truly sad when we lose these servicemen who will not hesitate to jump into the icy waters of the Bering Sea or North Pacific for anyone no matter nationality or circumstance, truly the silent selfless heroes of the world.

They do a very dangerous job and risk their lives in peacetime and wartime. If I read this correctly, there is a chance they may find one or more of them alive?

[Caldric]

Yes I did not mean to say we forget them, just that like Police and Firemen we seem to not think of them until we may need them, easy to forget they are there night and day.

[odannyboy]

That is sad to hear. They have a very dangerous job. I remember the story of the Blackhawk from A Perfect Storm and how it crashed while trying to reach another stricken vessel. The History Channel had a great show on that. One minute the guy is getting ready to jump from the helicopter (about to run out of fuel) and he looks down at the water 20 feet below him, and when he jumps the wave passes and his drop is like 80 to 100 feet, and he breaks his leg and other bones yet survives.

Mother Nature can defeat any modern technology, and rescue equipment, if she has a mind to.

[Hoss68]

Cancel my request... Paul already posted it on the Coast Guard Forum. Thanks.

[Caldric]

Originally Posted by Woodmonkey

They do a very dangerous job and risk their lives in peacetime and wartime. If I read this correctly, there is a chance they may find one or more of them alive?

Well I think the Admiral sort of set the stage for the truth when he stated 3 hours to live. I doubt unless they were found before dark there is very little chance of surviving the bearing sea over night. Of course the Coast Guard crew would be in full survival gear so there is always a chance I suppose if it was one of them missing. However I suspect they were picked up fairly quick because of the easy visibility of their uniforms and such. It may have been the ship crew that were missing after the crash it does not seem to say. But then they would not blurt out "Coast Guard members missing" before contacting the family sort of unknown right now.