It would’ve taken the ship the fisherman was on 45 hours to get to the closest island on its own, officials said
Credit: National Guard
NEED TO KNOW
- A California Air National Guard team rescued a fisherman 700 nautical miles off Mexico’s Pacific coast after traumatic injuries
- The rescue involved rescuers parachuting into the ocean to provide emergency care and monitor the man overnight
- The injured fisherman was later transported by a Mexican life flight to a hospital in Mazatlán for further treatment
A California Air National Guard rescue team carried out a long-range medical evacuation after a fisherman was seriously injured aboard a vessel off Mexico’s Pacific coast.
The mission began on Tuesday, July 7, after the U.S. Coast Guard received a distress call from the fishing vessel Azteca 5, which was about 700 nautical miles from Cabo San Lucas, according to a news release from the National Guard. The 47-year-old crew member, who was not identified by authorities, had suffered traumatic injuries.
Officials didn’t specify what caused the injuries.
“It was going to take [Azteca 5] roughly 45 hours for the ship to get to Island Socorro on their own,” U.S. Air Force Capt. Taylor Franklin, an HC-130 pilot who participated in the rescue mission, said, per the news release.
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After evaluating the vessel’s location and weather conditions, the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing was activated to respond. The unit, which specializes in long-range search-and-rescue operations, deployed an HC-130J Combat King II aircraft carrying four pararescuemen.
By the time the aircraft reached the area, the injured fisherman had been transferred to the Franz, a sister vessel that was heading toward Socorro Island. The aircrew first dropped medical supplies into the ocean before the pararescuemen parachuted into the water and boarded the ship, where they provided emergency care and monitored the patient overnight.
The following day, a Mexican life flight met the vessel on Socorro Island and transported the patient to a hospital in Mazatlán for additional treatment.
“It’s a lot of complex planning to make this happen,” U.S. Air Force Capt. Art Eisberg, the search and rescue duty officer assigned to the mission, said per the release.
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