USCG: rescue from cruise ship

[deadkennedy]

Friday march 28th, last day of our cruise. We were sailing from Hawaii to Ensenada (Mexico) on the cruiseship Mercury.
Early in the morning my girlfriend wakes me up and says they are evacuating someone from the cruiseship. I got dressed really fast and was able to get some shots of the rescue. A 83 year old woman and her granddaughter were airlifted and flown to San Diego.

This was the second time I got to see a rescue from a cruiseship. First one was in 2002, on cruiseship Century just off the Cuban coast.

Tomorrow I will post a movie I made, but now the pictures.









During the rescue, this c-130 kept flying circles round the ship.

[Dr.bob7]

sheesh is all of that really needed for someone who probly had  aheart attack, I mean the chooper is needed but I dont see why you need to call in a C130, excelent shots tho

[BigTruck]

Sweet pics, hope everything was ok!

[a1]

I love the first and the C-130 shot. I hope everything went well after.

[Leigh]

wow good shots

hope everything was all good

like the C-130 good shot

how long were they there for?

[expat]

Great catch and for a second time too

Matt

[Brando14100]

Is it just me or does the Jayhawk look good from all angles.

[Sean_TK]

Awesome shots!

It's always nice to see some Coast Guard shots posted! (Although I guess its not so nice for the victims.)

Was the Cuban one with the Jayhawks also? (Assuming yes.)

Just wondering since my father flew the smaller Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphins for the Coast Guard for many years, including a few in Hawaii.

Also, how far out from shore were you in both circumstances? (Assuming pretty far since they called the Herc in. Unless it was already flying in that region anyway.)

Looking forward to the movie!  :)

[beaky]

8-)

I think the orbiting C130 is SOP, most likely in case the chopper crew has any trouble.
It's not really a waste of resources, because if nothing else it's good practice.
And I don't see how a heart attack is any less urgent than an injury or a sinking boat... people die from heart attacks, y'know.