Coast Guard Rushes to Mayday Call

Four men were in trouble off the coast of Cannon Beach, Ore. this past weekend. The Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria, “Received a call from the vessel over VHF radio about 6:10 a.m. PST, reporting mayday they were taking on water and putting on life jackets preparing to go in the water,” Group Deputy Officer Mark Dobney told R&W, “The men then used the [emergency position-indicating radio beacon] EPIRB and took it with them. We spoke to them for about five min before they sank. Information was sent to rescue coordination center in Seattle who in turn called the 13th District. The EPRIB matched the radio signal and the Jayhawk took off by 6:26 and were on scene by 6:32 about 15 nm away.” Astoria Air Station covers the northern coast of Oregon and the southern coast of Washington. Four men were on board the HH-60 Jayhawk, two pilots, one mechanic and a rescue swimmer. Air Station Astoria operates three Jayhawks and covers approximately 80,000 sq mi. “They sited three persons in the water, swimming to the beach and they were almost there,” said Dobney. “The Jayhawk lowered the rescue swimmer who helped the person farthest out from the beach. He then swam him into the beach and the Jayhawk landed on the beach to recover the rescue swimmer.”  All four of the men were wearing their life jackets and declined medical attention even though the water temperature was around 58 deg and the air temperature was around 57 deg. For related news