The Coast Guard will implement new aircraft search-and-rescue procedures, in the aftermath of the failed rescue of an injured sailing vessel crewmember in bad weather during an Oct. 28, 2008 mission. According to a final action memo released May 16, the service also will determine whether to equip MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters with cable-chafing guards, and evaluate how effective the rescue devices are during heavy-weather hoisting operations. The incident occurred when a Coast Guard MH-60 departed Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., in 40- to 50-knot winds and 20- to 40-foot waves, in an effort to rescue three men from the sailing vessel Freefall. One of the men on the vessel was injured. While a Coast Guard rescue swimmer tried to help the stricken man, a cable was damaged. Attempts to repair it failed. The swimmer then rigged an emergency rescue device while comrades from the aircraft deployed a life raft. But the rescue swimmer, who was wearing a harness, was separated from the injured man by violent seas and winds. The MH-60’s crew hoisted the swimmer – who was now also hurt – back into the aircraft, without the injured man. A fixed-wing plane dropped another life raft for the injured man, but he was never seen getting into it. Another helicopter air crew found him in the water four hours later; he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
