Missing Boat Search & Rescue! | Coast Guard Alaska | Full Episode

Alaska's frigid waters proved treacherous across the state. Something bad happened and they got stuck in a bad situation in Kodiak. The Coast Guard must find a way to reach a surfer torn from shore, like the pucker factor is going to want to feed a cable. with strong winds it is extremely dangerous while in Sitka the waves punish small

boat

s I look back out the door and the

boat

is now out of my field of vision the vast wilderness of Alaska a place where beauty is shrouded by danger here Every day 350 highly trained men and women risk their lives to save others America's deadliest waters are protected by the Alaska Coast Guard.

You got some good ones, yeah, yeah, you're cold. My name is Jason McGrath. I'm an aviation survival technician or helicopter

rescue

swimmer as most people know since this is a Bear Paw Beach I try to get out here three or four times a week depending on the surf so I work nights, which makes it nice because I can leave here in the morning and then go straight to work right now, it's low tide. so it's closing everywhere so I'm just trying to find for this a good shoulder and a peak to play with when I first went out I tried to be right on the edge and then it would be a free fall to the bottom.

Yeah, this is definitely a good day compared to what we've seen lately, being a

rescue

swimmer. I think it attracts that adrenaline-seeking type of personality. Sports that relax you. Surfing definitely helps keep you alert. You can definitely think fast. help with the job you know we have to be able to make quick decisions and I'm definitely glad there are waves up here keep saying this is a package my name is Lt. Jake Smith I'm a

search

and rescue pilot. At 60 degrees in Kodiak we heard the alarm go off Fred around 11-30 The surfer got stuck on Fossil Beach and couldn't get back to shore.

The weather was not so good here at the station, just over a mile of visibility with freezing rain and Low ceilings expected with strong winds marine sector Anchor sector Anchor help our rescue six years ago five rescue 6005 we are in the air on the mission we found ourselves with wet feet we were practically in the goo and soon after we received the news that it was actually on the rocks with bigger waves hitting the rocks, you know we could be looking at broken bones if it is on the shore, but it could also mean that he got there safely, he's in a safe position at the time, so we'll be fine.

Players are moving there today, Holy Cow 42 I'm offering service, but if it's blank Twitter is like that, yeah, I think it's a waterfall at 38 degrees. Also, this guy has a dry suit, and we went down to the scene and made contact. the land party at Fossil Beach there are other surfers down there, actually from the

coast

guard

, they had a delivery radio and they directed us to the general area and Roger was able to copy us, we'll go ahead and park in that position. My name is Jason McGrath. I am an aviation survival technical rescue swimmer.

I jumped on the radio and told them to start

search

ing right there and the current was pushing, you know, from east to west, the search conditions are quite challenging with the big swell, the strong very gusty winds. winds where they're trying to, you know, hover and look for it, so I knew that timing was crucial for all the doors to open, go up a little bit to orbit Lt. Mike Rocky, 60, rescue pilot type at the Air Station Kodiak When we arrived at the scene, of course we looked in the surf zone, there was no sign of them just below us, fortunately, aircraft equipped with infrared capability and the rescue swimmer in the background of the infrared camera, for so they stayed here around 11 o'clock. about another 300 yards there is a cliff that juts out a bit, they say it's right on the other side of that.

There's another Joshua Shaffer from aviation maintenance with the United States Coast Guard, you know, when we got to the scene, the winds were pretty strong and we arrived. on a hover to the area where we wanted to take this guy out, we were about 260 feet down to the water from where that guy was standing, we were 30 feet up the cliff and he was about halfway down, so who had been at least 200 feet away that we had to pay to carry the basket to the survivor. The water he thought of, please, flat pizzas. I'll add right there.

I could carry the basket down. Generally, 30 to 40 feet is easier to manage the cable. at that point it is easier for the flight mechanism in the back it is easier for the pilot this was a little different it is extremely dangerous the pucker factor is activated especially when we are talking about 200 feet of cable with high winds and turbulence Al Falling off the cliff becomes a very big risk for everyone involved. The baskets go down and the survivors at the ten o'clock low point, approximately 200 yards. Four baskets go down. Ask us about the middle of the road, which one is good.

Keep beauty for beauty for the left. Oh, this is one. one of the most difficult lifts I have done so far just because of the height I had to fight a lot with the cable I had to fight with the basket I had to try to get it to where it needed to be even if the wind wanted to see it another way, it is on quite a terrain flat right there. He could drive the basket straight across the line. Once around 11:30 the first surfer in trouble at Fossil Beach, everyone in Kodiak is pretty familiar with Boston Beach, it's a local hangout so we got to work and took off when we finally located to the survivor.

He was actually on a cliff, probably about 50 feet above the waterline and then the top of the cliff was at least another hundred feet above him, so he was pretty high. In the end we decided to just put the baskets down, it's probably one of the most dangerous voices I think I've ever seen in my life. You know, you're trying to carry a basket up a cliff that's probably 3x3 from 200 feet up, it's near the water. You know, after we got out over the water, we started moving forward those 200 feet once we finally made it. You know, I could see his face when he approached the plane and he was very happy.

You know, he's giving his thumbs up. he was getting a little surfer sign, you know, he was ready to go home once we got him inside, he was smiling from ear to ear, he seemed to be in a great mood and happy to be off the cliff, I bought him some water , you know, I have it. on ice, yes, and I talked to him a little. I don't know where the wind came up like out of nowhere and pushed me into that corner and I thought, well, I can wait for the wind to go back. He was about to do it.

I climbed to the top and then I'm fine. My name is Scott Jones. I've been surfing in Alaska for 13 years. I never had any problems. I've been in situations before, but nothing like this. The wind began to spin and I. I'll let the rip take me to the rocks and I'm thinking, I'll just wait out the storm, which is what I thought, it was just a really quick gust of wind, well the wind kept getting stronger, that rip and the wind Now he caught me and pushed me even further down. I turned the corner and finally climbed up a rock wall and said, you know, I'm stuck here until someone comes to get me because I can't climb 200 feet in a wetsuit. and I can't paddle back to the beach, but a FLIR camera worked great, that's great, if you had shown up as a big old white guy I probably would have gotten hypothermia if they hadn't come looking for me when they did. okay, but another time.

I don't know if I could have gotten out of there. This particular mission is exactly the type of mission we like, it is a quick success and everyone returned safely in some challenging conditions which was interesting and makes for a good case, now you know what you couldn't finish in a best spine, oh I know that's exactly why I did it. I went up through that area. I look at them, it was like getting out of here, but I might as well do a good job. great, you know, ultimately this was a very good and successful mission.

Now I have a big head, okay, it was my highest lift and it was done very quickly, very, very professional and I'm very happy about it. I am an aviation expert. Maintenance Technician 3rd Class Joshua Shaffer brought my family to the Institute of Marine Sciences, they do a lot of research here and they also have a touch tank, it's cool, he's like, oh yeah, he's rolling up his sleeves, he's ready to go, will you? to do the touch tank, look at that guy, hot grad, okay, bumpy, this is one of the only things you know on a rainy day on a nasty day with snow and wind how to leave the house and come carry your children to do well. hermit crab look at that, I know he's like a great dad.

I love being a father. He is an amazing child. He is like my. You know, his personality is the same as me. He loves scientific things, just like I was when he was that age. I love see. the look on his face rob is a sponge, yeah actually it's not that much, living here on this little island, a little community, it's great, they have this research center here so we can come and observe the marine life, it's a really cool little thing for the kids. and they enjoy it. I am very, very proud of my husband.

I can't explain how proud I am of him. He is incredible. He what he does. All we had was two men in a 15-foot skiff that was taking on water. Everyone nervous knowing that we are losing daylight. My name is Dan McDevitt. I am a VA Footwear Maintenance Technician, Petty Officer 3rd Class here at Sitka Air Station. We ended up getting the call around one. I mean maybe a little bit earlier and we went to the OP Center listening to the radio and then once our pilot gave us the official news that we were launching, we went down and changed my name is Chris Belisle.

I am an assistant, in the United States. The Coast Guard and Sitka Air Station all we had were two men on a 15-foot skiff that was cruising in the water offshore off Orca Island. Our time to the gentleman was approximately 20 minutes. The first thing we did was grab survival suits and hypothermic bags, which are sleeping bags that we put on people who are very cold and help them raise their core temperature. I kept saying that they were sinking, that they were taking on water and all we were trying to do was get to them. Okay, we're ready to do it visibly.

It was a little more than half of mine that we released. Snow flurries were moving through the area, so we knew we would encounter this on and off the flight and without having an exact position for the craft. I don't know if we were going to be in or out of those snow flurries until we are out there, again there is a beetle straight to that position, we didn't know its exact location and they didn't know either, the only navigation they had. There was a compass on board, so we were using the direction finder that we have on the helicopter and we were asking them to count down and the direction finder was picking up the radio signal and pointing us in the right direction, tell me what's the weather here? it's hard.

To see, we were facing, I think 29 to 30 knot winds, snow, it was snow and very heavy, it was a ball of peas. Understood sir, we are on our way to you right now, we are all nervous going into this knowing that. We are losing daylight and once we lose daylight we increase our chances of not finding the person who is leading the Coast Guard. You see the pilots in front. Great, what's in the background first. We went around in an evaluation of his boat. He is drinking water on alert. Now they were running with the sea and they actually thought they were heading towards the city, but in reality they were heading further from the

coast

and it was about 28 miles from the coast when they thought it was about six miles away, for sure, because of their proximity to the earth, there was no way. to get the boat ashore and try to save it, so our concern was to get the people out, we will send a rescue swimmer for the swimmer swam to the boat, we had to make sure we kept a distance away from the boat. the fact that we didn't want to blow them up with our rotor wash, so we had to swim a little bit to get to the boat and get the first man into the water, so when I first made contact with the boat, I immediately got up in some sort scenario, the situation saw what was happening immediately I noticed that the water was almost to the edge of the freeboard.

I sat on it to see if I could talk to them and immediately the boat started rolling so I jumped out right away. before throwing everyone overboard, that's when EJ, the bigger of the two, really wanted to get off. I grabbed them, put them in our basket, which is what we always put our survivors in, it makes it feel safer. EJ was relativelybig. because this took me a little while to get on the boat the day we left, it's a 15 foot skiff which was definitely a small boat to be in the occasional six to eight foot 10 seas that they were operating in.

A good amount of water had also gotten into the boat, so obviously we knew their situation was not good and we needed to get them back pretty soon because we were pretty sure the boat was going to sink, you know, any minute I got there. I put them in our basket, which is what we always put our survivors in. It makes him feel safer. EJ was relatively big because it took me a little while to get him in every time I took out the first guy. I turn my you know. I put them in the cockpit and I have my eyes in the cockpit and I put a mountain on the real seat and then I look back out the door and the boat is now out of my frame and I look down and I see Chris the swimmer. still in the water, so we ended up getting Chris back out, yeah, the guy that was still on the boat was trying to get back to the islands because he obviously didn't want his boat to capsize or Louis' boat.

I talked to him. the radio and I told him no, he needed to get off the boat, we were an hour away from sunset and there was no way we could do it. The best thing was that there were no lights and the sea state was not conducive to the boat and, furthermore, the ship was still in the water in a wreck. We got him off the boat, so we encouraged him that he needed to go. Off the boat while we were doing this shoot we could be in such a small town and being in a maritime town a lot of people have VHF radios in their vehicles at home and we later found out that essentially a good portion of the town was listening . until the SAR case developed and while trying to encourage the owner to get off the boat, his grandfather came on the radio and the last captain still on board was diabetic and it had been quite a few hours since he last ate . any throw, so he was not in a complete state of mind.

I guess you said he was definitely getting a little delirious and that's why he was trying to think that he could get back on land, so they immediately lowered me into the water, good thing. Adam was smart and climbed on top of the boat, so at least he was up and out of the water. He immediately swam to make contact. Revised sector. A survivor off the board. The second survivor will now stand up. scene with the project I grab them like I'm breathing from the ball what's going to happen I just signal to the helicopter to bring the basket, I lowered the basket and put them in a couple of minutes later, they were lifting me up and we were on our way to house unsafe, you know we have both survivors on board, if you could notify EMS sick so we can have him on the ramp, we spot you guys Roger, copy, my name is Adam Howard and I've been living here sick of de my whole life, my family has lived here in Sitka for about 300 years or 16 generations and I love it here.

We were trying to go hunting on Mount Edgecumbe Island when we got there, the weather wasn't that bad and on the way back. We decided it was getting too bad for us and it ended up getting foggy with snow and hail and it was all this is what Alaska is really extreme sometimes it's very pretty and sometimes it's a beast it's a monster and this time it ended up biting us that the Guard Coastal. I'm so grateful to them for dropping everything they're doing just trying to help us and the whole Sitka community is really unique because we'll all be working through a traumatic experience together. and be there for each other.

I think overall these DC gentlemen are very lucky to be alive, in the direction they were going, in the climate they were going in, and in the ship they were on. Yes, they were very lucky to be alive. Dave, a call here in Kodiak, Alaska. where the Coast Guard doctor also flies and does medevacs today is our day off so we're going to do some mountain biking yeah we'll go down we'll write the fast track a package showing some skin it's got a barrel yeah, exactly, I'm Dom. rock'n'roll let's do it first we'll go up the ex-boyfriend trail it's more of a dirt trail that goes towards the face of the mountain it's a nice view because you can look out and you can see all of Kodiak, yeah if it hurts me, if someone else gets hurt, both me and Trice have medical experience and we always carry something in our bags.

Wardrobe malfunction makes you look like hard work, baby, come on EJ, oh yeah, get a fix of everything they died for. I must extend that we have four point one miles for the day top speed twenty four point nine thanks packing it, it's always good to get a little rest and then be able to do something like this outside, it also keeps me fit and it's funny what Joe After a bad case , if there is a serious trauma, it is always good to do something to take your mind off of it and forget about mountain biking.

You can't really be thinking about anything else, so it's definitely a good way to forget about the trauma or the situation. severity of the case I received a call that we had a medical evacuation for a possible blood clot in the leg, very late at night, Kurtik, everyone came over the radio, there was a boat that was dead in the water, it no longer had power and I was simply drifting. I hope they caught the anchor, otherwise they may already be on shore, just broken into pieces. I'm David Call. I'm an hs3 in Kodiak, Alaska so I'm a doctor.

I got a call saying we had a medevac or a possible blood clot. in the leg, the biggest fear is that that blood clot will go to the heart and cause a heart attack. A clot in the heart where blood is not denied to the extremities or goes to the brain and causes a stroke, we got the call and it was time to leave they told us that there was a man who was experiencing loss of sensation in one of his legs had a history of strokes in which in a previous case he had actually lost the other leg it had to be amputated I was too worried that he was having the same problem and they wanted to try to get him medical facilities in Anchorage as soon as possible so that he would not lose his another leg we loaded onto the plane, got everything we needed and headed to Dutch.

Harbor, it's about a five and a half hour flight from Kodiak. The flight surgeon is recommending medevac and they were talking about a six hour window, it's like the ideal time period would be close to do one obviously, it's really better once we get to the scene. We saw the ambulance there waiting for us, we went out to the ramp and the rescue swimmer and the doctor we had on board came out of the plane and went to meet the ambulance that came out, picked up the patient, he was stable, he was gone. severe pain at that time I checked the leg and if he was going to have a higher level pain, O prepared to give him morphine after a couple of minutes they finally took the person out of the ambulance and transferred them to the plane after we , the father, let's go out. him sitting in a seat on the plane, we got a love text message, you know, he took off from Dutch Harbor and headed back east towards Cold Bay, once he got on the plane, we stabilized him, we got him secured, We took a set of vital signs to make sure he was stable.

I just kept track of the attention that wasn't very clear when you started dating. Yeah, okay, let's move you to medevac. We dropped off the passenger on the Guardian flight, which was a plane. plane that was waiting for us on the deck with medical services on board and they took off from Coal Bay and headed back east. It is always a good feeling to know that I have helped someone and provided care that another person might not have been able to. I love flying and I love helping people, so I get to do both at my job here in Kodiak.

It's definitely always nice to know that I'm doing something good and will continue to do so. While he can, David calls. I'm a HS 3 in Kodiak, Alaska, I'm also working with the fire department tonight. We did a live fire drill involving Bayside Volunteer Fire Station and Womans Bay. It's good training to activate the other fire departments in case there is some kind of massive disaster, so we all know how to work together a large volunteer fire department we put together the most complex drill we've ever had here we have state police we have charter boat operators and we have quite a few coast

guard

s.

The volunteers here also bring a lot of skills for EMS purposes. Many of them are already trained firefighters, so we mesh quite well. It's always good to be complete. Not only do I know how to tell people that they are in cold water, but I also know it. how to tell people who are in burning buildings coast guard people bring all kinds of special skills David calls an EMT flight medic he gives us a lot he helps us with training that's the Coast Guard, it's a great asset to have There The Coast Guard and Kodiak go hand in hand and I think it's good to give back to the community and earn as much as possible.

Kodiak is an island, so there are a limited number of people who can help you, so everyone needs to be prepared. to help their neighbor, someone they see on the side of the road, the more I train, the better prepared I will be to help anyone, whether at the Coast Guard base or here, respond to an EMS or a fire call, this is kind of I was trying to get back into the community a little bit when we first arrived on the scene. I found it very difficult. The boat was rocking quite a bit. It wasn't comfortable for them.

It was obvious to see that the ship was moving towards the coast. they're just going to be hit on the rocks or these people are going to have a chance to get out now put the helicopter ready online now put the eel ready online we have a 24 foot cabin boat in danger David Birky stationed at Sitka Air Station, I'm one of the pilots, I was up in the operations center getting ready to go to bed and I heard a call on the radio that there was a ship that was dead in the water, it no longer had power and was carrying two people on board, that's about About 80 miles north of here, the winds had picked up there and the sea was quite rough.

They were going to send a Coast Guard cutter from Sector Juneau, but it would take them three hours to get to the scene, so they wanted us. Also to fly and see if we can help the Mariner. We are on our way. We have a very strong headwind. There are 35 knots we are going against. This dramatically increases the amount of time it takes us. get there I hope they show them the anchor, otherwise they may already be on the shore, just broken into pieces with all due respect to the people who are there tonight. I don't understand why they would be there.

Alaskans, you know the conditions, you know the chances of survival. They know what they're getting into, so something bad happened and they got stuck in a bad situation when we first arrived on the scene. I found it very difficult. The boat rocked quite a bit in four to five foot waves, at least with the wave. On top of that, and the 30 to 35 knot winds were not comfortable for them, it was obvious to see and we heard the boat in distress talking to the commercial searchlight fishing boat that we have in the MH-60 equipment calling the runway if yes.

We point in the direction of the water or the ship, we can illuminate everything around it and tonight we were using that to help the commercial ship because they couldn't see the smaller ship right off the coast, so we can give them a good position and then mentors vectors in the container, are you all ready to be able to say that support lived here most of my life, maybe two or three times a year? Something like this happens here, so we just went and did it. To check the weather before winter, we might have thought twice.

The boat that went out to tow this guy tonight was a commercial fishing boat in a situation like that where the closest Coast Guard asset that can really do anything is still hours away, obviously, we are. I'm going to take the best we have, he was the best we had at one time, he was willing to do it, he could do it, so all the pieces fell into place tonight when we were coming in, they were like in the surf or so they were so close that I wasn't going to be able to turn and get behind him and cast a line.

I'd have to catch her and then turn hard and bring her wine and when we were on our way in, you know, we started hitting bottom on the chart, so it got pretty milky and one of these guys goes into the water. How long will it take you to prepare? They are out of the way. My name is Thomas Mills. I am a native, born and raised in an excursion. I met just northwest of here going down a channel and when we got to the island the waves piled up on us and we couldn't get back so we heard a high pitched screech and a scream. in the builds, the water caught in that feeling and showed off the overall engine.

We have rescued people and this is the second time in my life that I have been rescued if there is adistress call, we as coast guards almost have to run to be good. The Samaritans are there because as soon as the call goes out, people flock to the area to try to help and do whatever they can. Everyone knows, hey, we're in this together. It's a relief to know that the coast guard was there in case we ran into trouble. My father was in the Coast Guard and died in a boating accident trying to save a few years and that motivates me a lot in everything I do velasca.

I think I have a pretty good understanding of the Coast Guard we're in. and what we can do for them, you know, the villages and the commercial fishing boats know what we are here for to offer them security and assistance if necessary, and I think that is very appreciated. The coast guard is the first and last resort and I hope. for someone's life we ​​are whatever you want us to be when you need us to be when no one else can and nowhere is that more demonstrated than here in Alaska.