And you thought your day at work was rough...

Kudos to the men and women that serve in the Coast Guard!

It's amazing the work they do daily that would make most of us hide in the corner in the fetal position asking for our mommy. And they make it look routine!
 
Wow, that is amazing. Hearing the voice say "altitude" every so often: he must have been getting too low?
 
woodstock said:
Wow, that is amazing. Hearing the voice say "altitude" every so often: he must have been getting too low?
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Depends on what parameters the pilot has the GPS set at.

I have the same "woman" yelling at me all the time too. She must really enjoy her job yelling at pilots. :lol:
 
woodstock said:
Wow, that is amazing. Hearing the voice say "altitude" every so often: he must have been getting too low?
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According to my wife (who's done SAR), what's happening is the radar altimeter is bouncing off the waves. Pilot is probably dead on with his altitude (MSL), but as the waves come up close, that will set off the warning.

It's a workout for all involved.
 
Damn. The pilot sounds sure and steady - all in a day's work for him. Thank you for posting this.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
According to my wife (who's done SAR), what's happening is the radar altimeter is bouncing off the waves. Pilot is probably dead on with his altitude (MSL), but as the waves come up close, that will set off the warning.

It's a workout for all involved.
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Yes, it is. One of the jobs I remember is being ready to pop the floats if the RadAlt goes and stays below 10' (this is in the HH-65).

When there's a low hover going on, everyone but the pilot flying is spending time watching for waves. It was very similar to being on a 44' motor lifeboat in surf - you're always looking for the wave that's sneaking up on you.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
According to my wife (who's done SAR), what's happening is the radar altimeter is bouncing off the waves. Pilot is probably dead on with his altitude (MSL), but as the waves come up close, that will set off the warning.

It's a workout for all involved.
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Reminds me:

You're a pilot, and a fine one at that, but your wife, she's bad-ass! :D
 
SCCutler said:
Reminds me:

You're a pilot, and a fine one at that, but your wife, she's bad-ass! :D
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I've always said (and will continue to say) that she's a better pilot than me. :)
 
This is a great illustration of the teamwork involved in making a hoist. As you can see the hoist operator is in charge of everything not affecting safety of flight. The pilot flying positions the aircraft to the orders of the hoist operator, and when clear you can hear him command "cease directions", which is the command indicating the pilot has the swimmer in view and will maintain contact while the operator deals with the survivor in the basket. The pilot not flying watches the weather and wave action,( you can hear her several times warning of big sets and giving an ETA for both dangerous conditions and when it will be safer to hoist), and works the radios. (You can hear communication with "2003" which is a C-130 operating as on scene commander.)

It is hard to put into words the concentration involved, and how easy it is to lose track of time, especially in a multiple hoist like this. You are dripping with sweat in a heartbeat, and hands and feet are in constant motion. They had the advantage of daylight, which is huge, but IMHO they did a great job in what will be reported as "good" conditions since it was daylight, good visibility, not raining and the wind wasn't too severe.
 
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I just heard an interview with the Coast Guard Captain (not the helo pilot) in charge of the overall rescue op. He indicated that as the crew were getting into the raft the ship healed over as it was sinking right onto the raft throwing everyone into the water. Some got back in, but the Captain did not, and has not yet been found. He did have a survival suit on, so it is hopeful he can survive until the find him. If he's still alive that is.
 
Anthony said:
I just heard an interview with the Coast Guard Captain (not the helo pilot) in charge of the overall rescue op. He indicated that as the crew were getting into the raft the ship healed over as it was sinking right onto the raft throwing everyone into the water. Some got back in, but the Captain did not, and has not yet been found. He did have a survival suit on, so it is hopeful he can survive until the find him. If he's still alive that is.
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In a situation like that it would be easy to get entangled in rigging if the ship was heeling over on the raft. Not good. Re: The interview, was it Joe Kelly? I think he is still CO of CGAS E. City, and would have been in operational command of the case.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
In a situation like that it would be easy to get entangled in rigging if the ship was heeling over on the raft. Not good. Re: The interview, was it Joe Kelly? I think he is still CO of CGAS E. City, and would have been in operational command of the case.
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I don't remember the guy's name, but he sounded extremely competent, and professional.
 
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