Often overlooked when praise is lauded upon our servicemen, the Coast Guard plays a vital role in our national security. Beyond this, they have the additional burdens of their roles in drug-traffic interdiction and maritime safety. Today, tragedy struck during a treacherous helicopter rescue.
Six people were feared dead after a US Coast Guard helicopter crashed into the icy Bering Sea while rescuing the crew of a Malaysian ship that broke up off the Alaska coast.
As rescuers searched for survivors, a new danger loomed: nearly 500,000 gallons of the vessel’s fuel could contaminate the area, officials.
The air crash occurred in bad weather about 6:20pm Wednesday (1420 AEST) as the Jayhawk helicopter, with 10 people aboard, was plucking the last sailors from the freighter Selendang Ayu.
“They were making their last series of hoists to evacuate the 26 crew members from the freighter,” Chief Petty Officer Roger Weatherall, a Coast Guard spokesman, told AFP.
“At the moment before the crash, they were preparing to rescue the crew’s captain. Something happened and before they could hoist him, the helicopter crashed next to the ship,” he said.
Four people were rescued from the ice cold, choppy and pitch-black seas by a second helicopter, but the six other crew were still missing 19 hours after the accident.
Those rescued were wearing life jackets but not survival suits.
“We are continuing the search for the missing and have a Coast Guard cutter, three helicopters and a C-130 aircraft involved in the rescue effort,” CPO Weatherall said. “There is always a chance they will be OK.”
The evacuation was ordered after the ship lost power to its engines on Tuesday and was drifting toward a rocky coast off Unalaska Island, in the Aleutian chain, by late Wednesday.
Three other ships were on their way to the crash site, where the water was about 6C and waves were as high as 6m. Snow was falling and the seas were rough, rescuers said.