Sunday, August 15, 2010

Two lives saved in Bristol Bay!

The U.S. Coast Guard sent out this press release last night:

Aug. 14, 2010

Coast Guard rescues two fishermen in Bristol Bay

JUNEAU — A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew along with an HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Kodiak located and rescued two people in the water Saturday who abandoned the 32-foot aluminum vessel Intrepid as it took on water in north Bristol Bay.

Shawn Elliott, 27, contacted the Coast Guard Sector Anchorage command center about 12:53 p.m. reporting his vessel was taking water over the railings and he along with Nick Kailukiak, 31, were going to abandon ship. The command center immediately launched the Jayhawk and diverted the Hercules aircrew, which was conducting a logistics flight from Cordova.

The Hercules was first on scene, locating the two people in Nushagak Bay with their survival suits on. Once the Jayhawk aircrew arrived on scene at 3:45 p.m. they safely hoisted the two fishermen and transferred them to Dillingham where local emergency medical services were waiting.

"Having working survival suits and donning them prior to abandoning ship allowed the Coast Guard the valuable time necessary to arrive on scene and conduct a successful rescue," said Lt. Herbert Law, command duty officer for the 17th Coast Guard District. "Without these suits the outcome may have been drastically different."

Weather on scene was reportedly 40-knot winds, 8-foot seas and a water temperature of 48 degrees.

1 comment:

Deckboss said...

Here's an account of the rescue from the Alaska State Troopers:

On 8/14/10 at approximately 1256 hours, Alaska State Troopers in Dillingham were notified of a vessel in distress near the mouth of Nushagak Bay. Occupants of the 32-foot fishing vessel reported they were taking on water and requested assistance. AST deployed a fixed-wing aircraft from Dillingham to assist the U.S. Coast Guard in the search for the vessel. Investigation revealed the vessel sank within approximately 10-15 minutes of the distress call. The occupants of the vessel were later identified as Shawn Elliott, 27, of Unalaska, and Nick Kailukiak, 31, of Toksook Bay. Both donned survival suits and were rescued from the water by the USCG at approximately 1540 hours. Both occupants were in stable condition and were treated for cold, but no other injuries.