Did the Coast Guard screw up the search for the guys on the boat?

B

Barracuda

Member
One of the guys said there was a light that shined on them, but the helicopter flew away. They were out there, why didn't they see them?

Someone's going to lose their job!
 
M

MyEvilTwin

New member
Have you ever tried to search for a missing boat or person in 16,000 square miles of open ocean? I'm thinking NO would be the answer to that. Perhaps you should take a ride with a Coast Guard Search & Rescue flight team before you belittle their efforts. It's not nearly as simple & straight forward as you seem to think it is.

Waves lift & drop the victim, bringing them into view sometimes for only a few seconds at a time if that. Light dances off the waves creating shimmering light & dark spots, and you're looking for one wet spot in the middle of all that confusion. The fact that they found one person was a miracle.
 
D

Damocles

New member
Do you know why their boat capsized? Because a huge storm came up. It was still raining pretty hard when the started searching.

Have you ever tried to do search and rescue operations on open seas? You have to happen to look at the right spot at the right time (considering waves and all - at the time you look in that spot, they might be behind a wave). It is very difficult work.

When someone sends out a distress call, they have something to go on, as far as approximating where they are. But when someone just up and vanishes, you end up having a huge search area, because you don't know where they might have gone.
 
R

robertc

Member
I am a Navy Veteran - I have been out to sea plenty. We had people go overboard and the thought of that always scared me. If you have ever been out there whether calm seas or waves, it is nothing but a blank canvas for miles and miles.

There have been plenty of instances where a guy falls off the ship and people saw him fall.....so man overboard is sounded. Yet, the choppers still have a hard time finding the person, if at all.

The sea is just a beast.

If a coast guard chopper would have spotted them and shined a light on them, they would have been rescued. I wasn't there, don't know what happened, but a coast guard rescue crew is several members deep. It would take all of them to decide to do nothing. Not gonna happen.

Nobody will lose their job or get disciplined. In fact, I would bet that a bunch of medals will be awarded for the effort.
 
R

robertc

Member
I am a Navy Veteran - I have been out to sea plenty. We had people go overboard and the thought of that always scared me. If you have ever been out there whether calm seas or waves, it is nothing but a blank canvas for miles and miles.

There have been plenty of instances where a guy falls off the ship and people saw him fall.....so man overboard is sounded. Yet, the choppers still have a hard time finding the person, if at all.

The sea is just a beast.

If a coast guard chopper would have spotted them and shined a light on them, they would have been rescued. I wasn't there, don't know what happened, but a coast guard rescue crew is several members deep. It would take all of them to decide to do nothing. Not gonna happen.

Nobody will lose their job or get disciplined. In fact, I would bet that a bunch of medals will be awarded for the effort.
 
Top