Search and Rescue conduct search and rescue mission on long-weekend

Above image: Members of 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, successfully conducted two search and rescue missions over the Labour Day long weekend.

Over the Labour Day long weekend, members of 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria, conducted search and rescue missions.

“While it was a busy night for 442 Squadron, the coordination between the various organizations led to a successful outcome in both cases,” says Captain Danny Schwager, pilot, 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, 19 Wing Comox.

The first search was for a dinghy lost on the Salish Sea. It was a night-time call to action where A CC-115 Buffalo aircraft illuminated the area by shooting parachute flares, assisting the ACH-149 Cormorant and multiple Canadian Coast Guard vessels.

This enabled them to fight the strong winds and search the waters, not in complete darkness.

The Canadian Coast Guard found the dinghy, and the boater was transferred to waiting BC Emergency Health Services.

In the second mission, they assisted a medical evacuation from Bella Coola by a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter. The successful morning mission ended with the patient being transferred to BC EHS in Vancouver.