Air Force helicopter called to duty for freighter rescue off the Charlottes

Wednesday was a busy day for events around the Queen Charlotte Islands, first there was the 6.1 earthquake that took place at 6:40 Wednesday morning.

That was followed by an at sea rescue by a helicopter based out of 19 wing out Comox Air Base, which dispatched a Cormorant rescue helicopter to the waters off of the coast of the Charlottes on Wednesday.

The 600 foot freighter Grand Glory was struck by a large wave on Wednesday morning, an event that resulted in five members of the vessel requiring medical attention. The Cormorant responded to the call and dropped four search and rescue technicians onto the ship to tend to the wounded, hoisting two of the crew up to the helicopter for transport to a hospital in Vancouver.

The rescue took place in less than ideal conditions, featuring gale force winds, limited visibility and large swells that made things difficult for the responders as they made their rescue approach.

The two crew members airlifted to Vancouver are reported to be have non life threatening injuries.

Air force rescues two deckhands off Taiwanese freighter off B.C.
5 hours ago

Canadian Press

VANCOUVER - Two Taiwanese deckhands were in a Vancouver hospital Wednesday night after Canadian air force crews plucked them from their rocking ship off the coast of B.C.

Four search and rescue techinicians from 19 Wing Comox were air-dropped onto the ship after the crew of the Grand Glory radioed for help. Their freighter had been hit by a large wave near the Queen Charlotte islands earlier in the day and the crew realized they needed medical attention.

"The cargo ship was over 600 feet long, bouncing around when we arrived," said search technician Master Cpl. Billy Ternes, in a statement from 19 Wing.

"We were battling gale force winds, limited visibility and large swells when we hoisted to the deck."

Five crew members were injured after the wave crashed into the ship, though Capt. Cheryl Condly of 19 Wing said in an interview she didn't think it was connected to a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that shook the area earlier Wednesday morning.

Two 6.5 magnitude earthquakes rattled the same region on Saturday.

"There was only one crew member on the whole ship who spoke English so that presented a challenge of course, but they were able to work through that and do their assessments," Condly said of the rescue effort.

Three crew members had only minor injuries but two were more severely hurt.

A 50-year-old male had leg and back injuries and a 40-year-old male had hit his tailbone and was having difficulty moving.

The men were evacuated via Cormorant helicopter and then flown, with search technicians, to Vancouver airport where they were transferred to hospital.

Their condition was unknown, but Condly said their injuries aren't life threatening.
Condly said the entire mission took nine hours for the 14 Air Force personnel involved.
She said though it wasn't normal for Air Force to be called out to rescue a foreign ship in danger, it wasn't unusual either.

"One year we might have five major searches and very few vessel missions and then the next year it may change," she said.

"There's not very much we'd say that's out of the ordinary but I wouldn't say it's normal either."