Helcopter Rescue Footage: Pacific Northwest Surf Skiers

copyright 2010 Just Another Guy Named Dave


EPIRB Rescue Search Patterns: Part 1

Above: Coastal New England (US). The first in a series of images illustrating the efforts Coast Guard units expend on search-and-rescue operations activated by EPIRBs, or emergency position indicating radio beacons. Search Amazon.com for personal locater beacons In order to develop a search plan, we take the crew's last known position, wind, wave and current sea states, and develop a


EPIRB Search and Rescue Patterns: Part 2

Above: the that-morning patterns run by Coast Guard and Navy aircraft in their search for survivors of a Massachusetts commercial fishing boat whose EPIRB activated offshore in the dead of a New England winter. Note that the Coast Guard's dirft model sent them on a pattern that extends far southeast and east/northeast of where the EPIRB was initially spotted by an overflying Coast Guard jet. If


EPIRB Rescue Search Patterns: Part 1

Above: Coastal New England (US). The first in a series of images illustrating the efforts Coast Guard units expend on search-and-rescue operations activated by EPIRBs, or emergency position indicating radio beacons. Search Amazon.com for personal locater beacons In order to develop a search plan, we take the crew's last known position, wind, wave and current sea states, and develop a


Making a Mayday Call: Who We Are and Where We Are

<!-- AddThis Bookmark Post Button END -->Above: Mayday audio, Cape Cod Massachusetts. One of the keys to making a mayday call on channel 16 via a vhf radio is to be sure that we describe where we are. After all, the Coast Guard -- or whoever else happens to pick up our call -- needs to know where to look for us.Also we need to describe what we are: in our case a sea kayak or a group of sea


When We Get Rescued: Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers and Wire Hoists

A rough cut of a 3-minute movie I'm putting together on what to expect if the Coast Guard arrives via helicopter, as recently happened off Massachusetts and numerous times off California, to rescue sea kayakers inshore or off. The job gets tricky sometimes, but is routine. The crew plucks sea kayakers out of the water in numerous ways. But first job is to get the rescue swimmer into the water.


Sea Kayaking Helicopter Rescue Footage

(quicktime version) Two kayakers in California are rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew and rescue swimmer. Note that, rather than freefalling from the helicopter, the rescue swimmer is lowered by wire hoist by the helicopter flight mechanic. It's the flight mechanic's voice you hear, running the rescue and giving commands to the pilots. The rescue swimmer wears a mask, goggles, fins and