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A strong wind almost caused a Coast Guard helicopter to crash into the Gulf of Mexico during a rescue mission for a cruise ship passenger needing medical help on Saturday.
The Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans sent an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane at 4:31 a.m. on Saturday, April 29. The passenger on the Carnival Dream was having symptoms like a heart attack.
The Jayhawk reached the location, 300 miles away from Fort Morgan. As the rescue crew tried to lift a cruise ship nurse, a sudden storm forced the helicopter away from the ship.
The powerful wind pushed the helicopter downward, making it come very close to the water. A video taken by a passenger showed the Jayhawk struggling to move away from the ship.
Both the Jayhawk and Ocean Sentry had to return to their base because of the bad weather. Later, another Jayhawk rescue crew went back to the ship and saved the patient and a Coast Guard swimmer who had stayed on the ship.
Cmdr. Keith Blair, from Air Station New Orleans, said the aircrew had to stop the mission because of the quickly worsening weather. They managed to safely land the helicopter at the air station without any problems.
The patient was taken to the University Medical Center in New Orleans and is now in stable condition.
Source: Military.com
