The U.S. Navy just used a new Search and Rescue kit deployed from their latest high-tech patrol aircraft to rescue three fishermen who had been missing for eight days in the South Pacific. The Navy’s new SAR capabilities are certainly good news for bluewater cruisers who might need help in any kind of an emergency.
The problem started when the three fishermen on a 19-foot skiff failed to return from an expedition near Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia. Their boat had food and water but it did not have a radio or any safety equipment. The U.S. Coast Guard launched a search that lasted for several days, without success, and then called the Navy for help.
The Navy sent a P-8A Poseidon, its newest patrol aircraft, from its “Fighting Tigers” squadron in Japan. The P-8A Poseidon is equipped with the Navy’s most advanced multifunction radar and high-tech camera system, and it started searching a 2,100-square-mile area for the missing fishermen. With its new technology, the Poseidon found them in three hours.
The Poseidon then dropped a new UNI-PAC 11 Search and Rescue Kit for the first time in real-world operations. The new kit, with medical supplies, food, water and communications equipment, is deployed at 500 feet and has a 150-yard trailing lanyard so it will land as closely as possible to survivors. The three fishermen retrieved the kit and then were picked up a few hours later by a local police vessel.
“This aircraft allows for a massive step forward in the ability of SAR units to search large areas quickly and effectively,” said Lt. Miles Schumacher, the tactical coordinator for the Poseidon’s crew. Read more:
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=104438
