A 24-year-old US Coast Guard rescue swimmer spent two hours battling rough seas in near-total darkness to save 16 people after a boat capsized in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
asserted
boat → spend → peninsula
Eleven others remain missing after an extensive search was called off.
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search → remain → ?
Josh Law was lowered from a Coast Guard helicopter into the ocean during the early hours of October 16, with waves reaching 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 metres).
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Law → lower → feet
Guided by a searchlight from the aircraft, he searched the water for survivors scattered across the area.
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he → guide → area
“I was experiencing exhaustion at that point,” Law told The Associated Press in his first interview since the operation.
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Law → experience → operation
“We had very little sleep.
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We → have → sleep
But what I was experiencing was nothing compared to what they were at that point ...
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they → experience → point
I just had to keep that in mind.”
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I → have → mind
The rescue unfolded about 140 miles (225 kilometres) off Mexico’s coast.
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rescue → unfold → coast
Law was the only rescuer in the water during the operation, pulling survivors towards a basket lowered from the helicopter.
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Law → pull → helicopter
The crew hoisted each person aboard before lowering the basket again.
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crew → hoist → basket
The Coast Guard suspended its search for the remaining 11 people late on Sunday after teams from the United States and Mexico, alongside the US Navy, searched more than 2,441 square miles (6,322 square kilometres) over a combined 89 hours.
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teams → suspend → hours
Mayday call triggers overnight rescue
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call → trigger → rescue
The emergency began at around 1 am, when a distress call reported that a boat was sinking in the Pacific off Ensenada, Mexico.
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boat → begin → Ensenada
Within minutes, an alarm woke Law and other crew members at US Coast Guard Air Station Ventura, northwest of Los Angeles.
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alarm → wake → Angeles
Helicopter pilot Lieutenant Miyako Miller checked the flying conditions and planned a route over the ocean.
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Miller → check → ocean
Law prepared his dry suit, fins and medical supplies before securing himself in a harness designed to lower him from the aircraft.
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Law → prepare → aircraft
The crew took off from Ventura at about 2am.
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crew → take → am
Miller used night-vision goggles to navigate without moonlight, relying on the stars to maintain her bearings.
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Miller → use → bearings
As the helicopter neared the reported location, she spotted a faint light in the distance.
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she → near → distance
The crew then saw what appeared to be debris floating on the surface, although the darkness made it difficult to identify.
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it → see → surface
Miller manoeuvred the aircraft until it hovered about 40 feet (12 metres) above the water while the flight mechanic guided her positioning.
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mechanic → manoeuvre → positioning
“I’m doing my best to maintain my references externally by looking outside through the night vision goggles,” Miller said, describing how she relied on visual cues while the mechanic directed the helicopter.
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mechanic → do → helicopter
Swimmer pulled survivors from rough seas
Law entered the water as the helicopter’s rotor blades churned up spray and turbulence.
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blades → pull → spray
The noise made it difficult to hear, while the darkness limited what he could see beyond the crew’s searchlight.
uncertain
he → make → searchlight
The people in the water were spread across a wide area.
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people → spread → area
Some wore life jackets with small lights, while others held on to one another, buoys or pieces of wreckage as they tried to stay afloat.
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they → wear → wreckage
Law said he swam towards each survivor, turned them onto their backs and used a rescue method known as a “buddy tow”, placing an arm over the person while kicking towards the helicopter’s pickup point.
“With one hand, I’m holding the survivor.
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I → say → survivor
With the other, I am signalling to the helicopter and working with the device,” he said.
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he → signal → device
At the designated point, Law signalled for the flight mechanic to lower a rescue basket.
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mechanic → designate → basket
He placed each survivor inside before the crew raised the basket into the aircraft.
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crew → place → aircraft
The process was repeated until 16 people had been rescued.
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people → repeat → ?
As the operation continued, water gradually filled Law’s dry suit to his knees, adding weight as he repeatedly swam through the waves.
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he → continue → waves
The helicopter crew faced a separate constraint as fuel supplies dwindled and the aircraft filled with survivors.
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aircraft → face → survivors
They decided to fly to a Coast Guard station in San Diego, where ambulances were waiting.
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ambulances → decide → Diego
During the flight, Law treated three people with serious wounds and worked to stop their bleeding.
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Law → treat → bleeding
The Coast Guard said some injuries were consistent with shark bites and that its personnel provided emergency first aid.
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personnel → say → aid
Investigation continues into cause of disaster
The rescued people were all Mexican nationals, according to the Mexican consulate.
uncertain
people → continue → consulate
The circumstances surrounding the boat’s voyage remain under investigation, including where it departed from and why it was so far offshore.
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it → surround → where
The Coast Guard said US Customs and Border Protection was investigating the incident and interviewing survivors.
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Customs → say → survivors
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
