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http://www.teamcoastguard.org/
Auxiliarists on PWC's
assist in rescuing survivor of plane crash in
Prince William Sound, Alaska
By Sigurd
Murphy,
Captain, Division 2, D17,
Whittier, Alaska
Looking Forward
to a Training Mission &endash; but Always
Ready
Photo by Mary
Murphy &endash; Auxiliary member
(left to right) RCO
Roy Stoddard, COMO Gary Taylor, DSO-CS Stewart
Sterling, DCP Sig Murphy, and FSO-MT Rae De
Ley.
The day began as
one of the most spectacular late autumn days in
Alaska's Prince William Sound with sunshine
glistening off the white "termination dust" on the
mountain peaks, always a harbinger of the
approaching cold winter months.
Four Auxiliary
members, Division 2 Captain Sig Murphy, D17
Commodore Gary Taylor, National Surface Operations
Division Chief Stewart Sterling, were engaged in
operational training. They were completing
personnel water craft (PWC) qualifications and
recertification.
They did not know
that their search and rescue (SAR) capabilities and
the response time of their PWCs would be tested.
That would make a difference that afternoon of
September 22, 2007. They were accompanied that day
by an Auxiliary SAFE Boat with Rear Commodore (RCO)
Roy Stoddard as the coxswain.
After completing
PWC training rotations, the group returned to the
port of Whittier, picked-up Flotilla Member
Training Officer Rae De Ley for the SAFE Boat and
began a combined training and safety
patrol.
In mid-afternoon,
the Auxiliarists on the SAFE boat received word
about a downed aircraft. The radio transmission
from the person contacting the Coast Guard could
not be heard and no location for the site was
given. The crew on the SAFE boat (hereinafter
called "the crew") called in the two PWC operators
using their spot-light; a pre-arranged signal. The
crew considered potential locations of the radio
transmission and headed in that general
direction.
The faint sound
from an on-scene radio could be heard, followed by
the report of an aircraft crash in the vicinity of
"Three Finger Cove," about 13 miles away. The
report indicated one survivor trapped in the
wreckage. More->
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