Coast Guard Helo down in Lake Huron

ScottM

ScottM

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http://www.d9publicaffairs.com/go/doc/443/523867/

News Release
Date: April 21, 2010

Contact: Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office

(216) 310-2608

U.S. Coast Guard air crew safe following training incident
CLEVELAND - Three U.S. Coast Guardsmen aboard a U.S. Coast Guard Air
Station Detroit HH-65C rescue helicopter are safe after their helicopter
crashed during a nighttime training evolution in southern Lake Huron,
Tuesday, at approximately 9:45 p.m.

All three aviators were able to safely exit the helicopter before it sank,
and were recovered by the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Huron
41-foot utility boat. No injuries were reported, but they were taken to a
local hospital as a safety precaution where they were later released.

The helicopter crew was conducting nighttime hoist training with Station
Port Huron when the aircraft crashed into the water.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Coast Guard Sector Detroit has established a safety zone around the location
of the helicopter in preparation for the investigation and salvage
operations, which are scheduled to begin Wednesday. The safety zone is
approximately nine miles north of Port Huron and encompasses an area of
three nautical miles.

The U.S. Coast Guard HH-65C is a multi-mission short range recovery
helicopter.

For further media inquiries, contact the Public Affairs Officer for Coast
Guard Air Station Detroit, Lt. Gregory Baker, at (586) 239-2747.

###


LT Wade C. Hedinger
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Detroit
Command Center Chief / Public Affairs
313-568-9587
------------

I also received email that all of the wreckage has been recovered and that the investigation is starting to determine that cause. Thankfully all are well without any significant injuries.
 
That lake is still cold.

Glad they are ok. Nothing but respect for those guys.
 
weilke said:
That lake is still cold.

Glad they are ok. Nothing but respect for those guys.
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It will be cold until August. Crews are flying in Aviation Dry Coveralls (ADCs) with undergarments. Very hot and uncomfortable until you have to take a swim. The ADC is made of nomex except the latex wrist and neck seals. It has a relief zipper but you have about 5 layers of clothes to get through to use it so it is pretty useless. What is amazing is that the rescue swimmers are wearing that plus their PPE and still swim like maniacs when in the water.
 
I hope they had time to pop the floats which will make recovery easier. The dry suits are a PITA, but they're a lot better than the "Gumby" style suits (back when I was a Coastie and had to walk barefoot uphill to the helo both ways). Night ops over water are a major pain - everything is "flat-looking" and one major job is looking at the RadAlt readout and popping the floats if it goes below a certain altitude (like 10 feet)
 
TMetzinger said:
I hope they had time to pop the floats which will make recovery easier. The dry suits are a PITA, but they're a lot better than the "Gumby" style suits (back when I was a Coastie and had to walk barefoot uphill to the helo both ways). Night ops over water are a major pain - everything is "flat-looking" and one major job is looking at the RadAlt readout and popping the floats if it goes below a certain altitude (like 10 feet)
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The new ADCs are not too bad and way better than the old suits, I will grant you that. But the undergraments!! Woo Boy! The current water/air temp matrixes dictate that the full set be worn. So you have the underlayer which is like a long john and then the thermal layer which is a 1/4" polarfleece like stuff. Then the ADC goes on. So you feel about 50 lbs heavier and barely able to move.
 
That DOES sound uncomfortable. And since even "Dry" suits leak a little, I wonder how bad it would be to have to swim in that stuff. If you're lucky the fleece and undergarment are good when damp.

When I was a swimmer we wore a cold-water swimming suit under coveralls. Then we'd shuck the coveralls and put on the fins, etc before going in.
 
TMetzinger said:
That DOES sound uncomfortable. And since even "Dry" suits leak a little, I wonder how bad it would be to have to swim in that stuff. If you're lucky the fleece and undergarment are good when damp.

When I was a swimmer we wore a cold-water swimming suit under coveralls. Then we'd shuck the coveralls and put on the fins, etc before going in.
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I have to do my yearly swim quals in that stuff with the PPE. It is tiring. At the end of our qual swim we have to inflate the butt boat, get into it and then bail any water in it. The swimmers use some unofficial undergraments (under armor) to increase their mobility. They are pretty funny when you see them with the top of the suit open. They will tell me "you see the correct undergarments' and then waive their hands in a Jedi motion.
 
ScottM said:
I have to do my yearly swim quals in that stuff with the PPE. It is tiring. At the end of our qual swim we have to inflate the butt boat, get into it and then bail any water in it. The swimmers use some unofficial undergraments (under armor) to increase their mobility. They are pretty funny when you see them with the top of the suit open. They will tell me "you see the correct undergarments' and then waive their hands in a Jedi motion.
Click to expand...

These aren't the rogue swimmers we're looking for.
You can go about your business.:D:D:D

Are you a rescue swimmer, or are you talking about the yearly "surf swim" (that's what we called it at Barnegat Light and Cape May) that everyone does?

We had to do monthly swim tests as an RS, but that was in a pool. We did ocean swims as well but not as formal tests. And of course that was a couple decades ago.
 
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