Coast Guard rescuers rise to the task.Byline: LARRY BACON The Register-Guard NORTH BEND North Bend is the name of several places in the United States of America:
A fishing boat returning to port after dark misses the channel near the entrance to Coos Bay Coos Bay (k  s), city (1990 pop. 15,076), Coos co., SW Oreg., a port of entry on Coos Bay; founded 1854 as Marshfield, inc. 1874, renamed 1944. and runs onto shallow-water shoals, north of
the North Jetty jetty: see coast protection. .
A helicopter crew flies out and hoists the skipper - the only person on board - to safety, then flies the skipper back to the North Bend Air Station. End of story. But the mission proved to be anything but ordinary. Cmdr. Doug Kaup, the veteran pilot in command of the helicopter, said he got a tight feeling in his gut that only comes when he's flying on the brink of disaster. The 22-year Coast Guard veteran, who was recently awarded the Coast Guard's second-highest flying award for his performance that night, groped for words about his feeling when he landed safely at the air station with his crew and the skipper of the stricken boat. "When I got back," he said. "Well ... I was just glad to be back." An uncooperative skipper A thick layer of fog above the ocean posed the main challenge. Almost as worrisome for the helicopter crew was the erratic and unpredictable behavior of the owner of the 38-foot wood fishing vessel, Revenge. "Alcohol was a contributing factor to where he ended up," Kaup said. The Revenge skipper, John Sharon, 47, of Charleston, later pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of intoxicants and was given a 25-day jail sentence jail sentence jail n → peine f de prison and a $1,000 fine. As the helicopter crew prepared for the rescue, they could hear Sharon talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to the Coast Guard on the radio, his communications colored by emotions ranging from anger to panic. He declined to be interviewed for this story. First came demands that a Coast Guard motor lifeboat pull the Revenge to safety, even though the water was too shallow to approach the endangered en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. fishing vessel. Then crew members could hear the revving of the boat's engines as Sharon announced he would drive the boat off the shoals himself. Later, when black smoke poured from the boat's engine room, Kaup said, Sharon thought there was a fire and talked of going overboard o·ver·board adv. Over or as if over the side of a boat or ship. Idiom: go overboard To go to extremes, especially as a result of enthusiasm. . To the relief of the crew maneuvering the helicopter into place so they could lower the hoist hoist: see winch. , the skipper stayed aboard - vowing at times not to leave his vessel because it was his livelihood. Shortly before being lifted off the boat, Kaup said, Sharon asked him over the radio if he was going to live. He said he replied, ` `You will live through this. No problem.' ' Fog becomes a problem The fog wasn't bad when the helicopter and its four member-crew left the air station for the 6-mile flight to the Coos Bay channel entrance. Kaup's co-pilot was 31-year-old Lt. Steven Detton, who has spent six years in the Coast Guard. In the back of the aircraft were two enlisted men - Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Biehn, 28, a rescue swimmer ] produced by Tam Communications, working in association with the Discovery Channel. Along with covering the history and the demanding training rescue swimmers must complete, the specials also feature dramatic on-scene footage of several heroic rescues. who was to get on the boat and prepare Sharon to be hoisted aboard the helicopter, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Benjamin Berman, 24, who would operate the hoist. The crew grew increasingly nervous as the fog layer dropped lower and lower, forcing them to fly ever closer to the water. They talked by radio with a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew that was offshore from the stricken Revenge. Crewmen aboard the Coast Guard boat heard the distress call from the Revenge and spotted it aground a·ground adv. & adj. 1. Onto or on a shore, reef, or the bottom of a body of water: a ship that ran aground; a ship aground offshore. 2. in the surf. As they watched, thick fog descended until all they could see was the glow of the fishing boat's lights. Meanwhile, the settling fog had left no open air above the water for the helicopter to fly in, so Kaup ascended through the fog bank fog bank n. A dense mass of fog defined against clearer surrounding air, often as viewed from a distance at sea. fog bank Noun a distinct mass of fog, esp. at sea , searching for its top. He punched through at 1,300 feet, with stars above and a layer of white below. En route, Kaup and Detton talked by radio with other Coast Guardsmen and ruled out two safer rescue options. They decided the water was too shallow for another boat to get close, and the expanse of water between the beach and the Revenge was too wide for a beach crew to try to cross. So Kaup headed back into the fog. Relying on instruments Finding the grounded boat was the problem. Night vision goggles goggles, n the protective eyewear worn by dental personnel and patients during dental procedures. goggles see periocular leukotrichia. didn't work. And the helicopter's lights were no help because they reflected off the fog. "It was like being in bed with the sheets up around you, and you turn on a flashlight," Biehn said. The two pilots worked from a radar display Modern radar systems typically use some sort of raster scan display to produce a map-like image. In the past, notably during the early days of radar development, such displays were difficult to produce for a number of reasons. that showed the shoreline contours. Boats are too small to show up on the display but Kaup had programmed the latitude and longitude latitude and longitude Coordinate system by which the position or location of any place on the Earth's surface can be determined and described. Latitude is a measurement of location north or south of the Equator. of the Coast Guard boat, which showed up as a blip on identical radar screens, one in front of each pilot. Kaup programmed an approach - descending into a gentle wind at an angle of 30 to 40 degrees - that would take them to a point about 50 feet above the Coast Guard boat. The pilots were essentially letting a computer fly the aircraft while the pilot and co-pilot monitored the instruments for any sign of trouble. Flying in fog is dangerous, Kaup said, because it's possible to lose track of where you are. With nothing to use for visual reference, it's easy to be fooled about the true orientation of an aircraft, he said. Aviators Well-known aviators People largely known for their contributions to the history of aviation While all of these people were pilots (and some still are), many are also noted for contributions in areas such as aircraft design and manufacturing, navigation or have a name for the phenomenon: spatial disorientation spatial disorientation Inability to determine one's true body position, motion, and altitude (or, in water, depth) relative to the Earth or one's surroundings. It may result from a brain or nerve disorder or from limitations in the normal sensory apparatus. . "You have to use your instruments," Kaup said. "You have to totally trust them." The attitude gyro tells you if you are level or turning. The radar altimeter A type of absolute altimeter which measures vertical distance to the surface below using radar technology. See also absolute altimeter. repeatedly bounces signals off the water below and tells you how high above the water the aircraft is. Glance away from the altimeter altimeter (ăltĭm`ĭtər, ăl`tĭmē'tər), device for measuring altitude. The most common type is an aneroid barometer calibrated to show the drop in atmospheric pressure in terms of linear elevation as an airplane, too long, Kaup said, and you can easily fly into the water - with the big overhead rotor disintegrating on impact and the helicopter turning upside down and sinking within minutes. As he flew into the clouds, Kaup remembered another helicopter crew - his buddies when he was stationed at the Coast Guard's Humboldt Bay Humboldt Bay: see Jayapura, Indonesia. Air Station eight years ago. Their helicopter flew into fog one night to rescue people aboard a sailboat that had gone aground. It struck a cliff, killing everyone aboard. Kaup resolved that he wouldn't make the same mistake. He aborted a·bort v. a·bort·ed, a·bort·ing, a·borts v.intr. 1. To give birth prematurely or before term; miscarry. 2. To cease growth before full development or maturation. 3. the first approach to the Revenge because "it wasn't going the way we liked," he said. The second approach was better, but the helicopter ended up north of the Coast Guard boat. So they drifted south, found the boat, then were directed by radio to the grounded fishing vessel. From there, it was almost a textbook rescue. The helicopter took a position above the boat and Berman lowered Biehn - clad in his waterproof dry suit - onto the bow of the Revenge. Biehn found Sharon in the cabin, starting to pull on a survival suit and still talking about staying with the boat. "I had to kind of take him by the hand and lead him out," Biehn said. Berman lowered the metal rescue basket, Biehn put the skipper in it and the basket was lifted skyward sky·ward adv. & adj. At or toward the sky. sky  wards adv. . Then Biehn was lifted and the
helicopter headed home.
Acknowledging a success The awards for the four helicopter crew members were handed out at a Feb. 21 ceremony. Kaup received the equivalent of a second Coast Guard Air Medal - a gold star worn on the ribbon of the previous medal, awarded for a cliffside rescue in stormy Alaskan waters in 1993. The other crew members got Coast Guard commendation medals For other medals of the same name, see . The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military award which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. . All said the rescue in the fog was their most exciting ever. Berman gave Kaup the ultimate compliment for aviators by calling him "a great stick," and said both pilots did an incredible job. Capt. John Miko, the air station commander, said Kaup's long experience gives his crew an edge many others don't have. There are crews that probably could not have carried off such a mission, he said. "These are special guys," he said. "They were operating really at the limit of what they are supposed to do." Kaup said the September rescue mission may be his last. Administrative duties at the air station keep him flying a desk more than a helicopter these days. At 44, he knows he is in the twilight years of his flying career, which will probably end when he becomes second in command at a Coast Guard air station in Houston. He said he and his crew succeeded because they train for success. They do night training missions in which they simulate zero visibility and rely on their instruments, he said. The chance to put that training to use was a bonus, he said. "When we don't have a search and rescue case for a long time, people start to grumble," he said. "We don't want people to get in trouble. But it (search and rescue) is what we are here to do." CAPTION(S): From left, Coast Guard flight crew Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Biehn (left), flight engineer Petty Officer 3rd Class Benjamin Berman, co-pilot Lt. Steven Detton and pilot Cmdr. Doug Kaup are the recipients of medals for their work on Sept. 21, 2001. "These are special guys. They were operating really at the limit of what they are supposed to do." CAPT. JOHN MIKO Air station commander |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion