CONTACT: Patricia Viets FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 457-5005 12/8/95
Bill Burkhart
(301) 457-LOST
An 82-year-old man critically injured at sea was rescued from his boat in the Pacific Ocean recently when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's search and rescue satellite system went into action after picking up his distress signal.
The man had been injured 10 days earlier when he was hit in the head by a boom on his vessel, the Cazador. Although the blow knocked him overboard, he managed to climb back aboard and crawl into the cabin. He apparently lost consciousness, but at some later point his 121.5 MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was activated. Its signal was picked up by the COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue system and relayed to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard contacted and diverted a vessel to the scene, but was unable to find the vessel.
An Air Force C-130 aircraft launched a first-light search and located the vessel 900 nautical miles southwest of San Diego. The C-130 diverted a nearby fishing vessel "Adrienne-A" to investigate. The crew found the elderly man barely conscious, unable to move or speak. He was rescued by Air Force pararescuers, transferred aboard the "Adrienne-A," and sent to San Francisco for treatment.
The COSPAS-SARSAT program is an international search and rescue satellite system operated by NOAA, an agency of the Commerce Department. The COSPAS-SARSAT program uses NOAA environmental satellites equipped with Canadian and French search and rescue instruments, Russian satellites, and a network of earth stations to pick up distress signals from pilots or mariners who have crashed or become shipwrecked. Since the inception of the program 10 years ago, 5269 lives have been saved.
The COSPAS-SARSAT program was formed as a joint effort by the United States, Canada, France, and the former Soviet Union. The first satellite was launched by the Soviet Union in 1982, followed by additional Soviet and U.S. satellites. Today there are six operational satellites involved in the program.
COSPAS is the English acronym translation of the Russian name of Space System for Search of Vessels in Distress. SARSAT stands for Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking.