U.S. Coast Guard to suspend search for missing pilot; releases identity

HONOLULU — U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue crews plan to suspend the search for a Coast Guard pilot missing after an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crashed Thursday evening approximately five miles south of Honolulu International Airport.

The pilot, Cmdr. Thomas Nelson, 42, of Staten Island, N.Y., went missing after the HH-65 crashed with three other crewmembers aboard during a training flight off the south shore of Oahu. The three crewmembers were recovered Thursday evening and pronounced dead at The Queen’s Medical Center.

“Coast Guard crews, with the generous assistance of our local, state and federal agency partners, have diligently searched around the clock since Thursday for our missing aviator, but I have decided to end our active search for Cmdr. Nelson,” said Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, the Fourteenth Coast Guard District Commander.

Nelson, who reported to Air Station Barbers Point in July 2007 to serve as the executive officer, joined the Coast Guard in 1988. The executive officer is the second in charge of a Coast Guard air station.

Nelson most recently served as the Deputy Chief, Office of Security and Defense Operations, at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., from July 2004 to June 2007. Prior assignments included: Air Station Brooklyn, N.Y.; Air Station Port Angeles, Wash.; and Air Station New Orleans. Nelson also served as a deck watch officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Basswood.

“Cmdr. Nelson’s Coast Guard service of two decades demonstrates his unwavering commitment to the Coast Guard and to the protection of mariners across the country,” said Brown.

The Coast Guard and HFD crews searched an area of more than 3,000 square miles — roughly five times the size of Oahu. Search crews on 91 different sorties (or patrols) scoured an area from shore to 40 miles out and from Barbers Point to Diamond Head.

On scene Saturday night and Sunday were crews aboard 41-foot and 47-foot motor lifeboats from Coast Guard Station Honolulu, aboard the Coast Guard patrol boats Kiska and Kittiwake, Cutter Rush, an HH-65 and C-130 from Air Station Barbers Point and HFD crews aboard the Fire 1 helicopter, two small boats and two jet skis.

Brown thanked HFD rescue crews as well as crews from the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Hawaii Air National Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, the state fire department at Honolulu International Airport and with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for assisting in the search.

Over the weekend, the Coast Guard brought in air crews from Air Stations San Francisco, Humboldt Bay, Calif., and Kodiak, Alaska. The air crews are augmenting the staff at the 300-member Air Station Barbers Point to ensure the Coast Guard can answer distress calls and allow local Coast Guard members time to rest.

Coast Guard crews continue to recover debris from the downed helicopter and are transporting the debris to the Coast Guard’s Sand Island base. Investigative teams are in place to determine the cause of the accident.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. The debris recovered from the search area will be gathered in a secure hangar at Hickam Air Force Base, where a Coast Guard investigative team from Washington, D.C., will try to determine the cause of the crash.

The investigative team will begin examining the recovered debris Sunday evening.

UPDATE: Search continues for missing U.S. Coast Guard air crew member

HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard continues to search the ocean south of Oahu today for one its own, a missing aviator from a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter which crashed Thursday.

The search area extends 40 miles off shore and stretches 35 miles from Barbers Point to Diamond Head. Coast Guard and Honolulu Fire Department search crews have conducted more than 60 sorties, or missions, in the search area, covering more than 2,500 square miles.

“We are essentially saturating the search area with as many assets as possible,” said Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, the Fourteenth Coast Guard District Commander. “We are extremely grateful for the assistance from HFD, the Navy, Air Force, Hawaii Air National Guard, state DLNR and Honolulu Police Department during this trying time.”

Coast Guard air crews from Air Stations San Francisco, Humboldt Bay, Calif., and Kodiak, Alaska, have been flown out to augment search crews here to maintain the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to other calls during the search. In addition, U.S. Navy Combat Task Group 32 (a P-3 squadron) and the Navy’s Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 37 — both at Marine Corps Base Kaneohe — are on standby to provide search and rescue support for other missions in Hawaii and the Pacific.

Coast Guard assets on scene Saturday in the search area were the 378-foot high endurance cutter Rush, with a crew of 140, the 87-foot patrol boats Ahi and Kittiwake, with crews of 11 and crews aboard 41-foot and 47-foot motor lifeboats from Station Honolulu.

“Our hearts are with the loved ones of our lost aviators,” said Brown, who visited with cutter and Station Honolulu crews today. “But, we have an active search and we’ll continue while there’s a chance of survival.”

Small pieces of the downed HH-65 were recovered by the cutter crews today and were taken to the Coast Guard’s Sand Island base. The pieces will be transferred to a secure hangar at Hickam Air Force Base where it will be examined by Coast Guard investigators. The pieces were exterior panels of the fuselage.

The three aviators recovered from the downed HH-65 Thursday night and pronounced dead at Queen’s Medical Center were all Coast Guard aviation veterans:

Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Wischmeier, 44, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., had served at Air Station Barbers Point since July 2004 and had 19 years Coast Guard experience. Previously, he had served at Air Station Miami, Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, and at Group New Orleans. He went through Naval Flight School in 1991. He was a pilot aboard the downed HH-65.

Petty Officer 1st Class David Skimin, 38, of San Bernardino, Calif., had served at Air Station Barbers Point since June 2005 and had 16 years Coast Guard experience. Previously, he had served at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, and at Barbers Point in the late 1990s, Station Golden Gate (San Francisco, Calif.) and Station Freeport (Freeport, Texas) and Group Galveston, Texas. He was the rescue swimmer aboard the downed HH-65.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Nichols, 27, of Gloucester, Va., had served at Air Station Barbers Point since July 2007 and had eight years Coast Guard experience. Previously, he had served at Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., Air Station San Francisco and the cutter Morgenthau, home ported in Alameda, Calif. He was the flight mechanic aboard the HH-65.

Search for missing U.S. Coast Guard aviator to continues

HONOLULU — Search crews from U.S. Coast Guard units in Hawaii continued the search for one of their own overnight Friday, Sept. 5. A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crashed Thursday night five miles south of Honolulu International Airport.

Coast Guard search crews aboard the 87-foot patrol boat Kittiwake, aboard two HH-65s from Air Station Barbers Point and aboard two 25-foot small boats from the Marine Safety and Security Team Honolulu  continue to search an area roughly 10 by 13 miles in the middle of Mamala Bay on the South Shore of Oahu.

There have been no other significant signs of debris since the fuselage of the helicopter was brought to shore at the Coast Guard’s Sand Island base at approximately 1 p.m. today.

Three air crew members perished in the crash and the search for the missing fourth crew member will continue as long as there is a reasonable chance of survival, said Rear Adm. Manson K. Brown, the commander of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District headquartered in Honolulu.

“We are bringing as many assets to bear as we can,” said Brown, who commands 29 operational units in the Pacific, including the 300-member Air Station Barbers Point at Ewa Beach on Oahu.

“The entire Coast Guard grieves with the families of our lost air crew members and we will continue the search for our missing Coast Guardsman.”

The crew of the 87-foot patrol boat Ahi will relieve the Kittiwake’s crew Saturday morning in the search area and the 378-foot Cutter Rush has been recalled from a law enforcement trip to American Samoa to aid in the search as well. Embarked aboard the Rush is an HH-65 Dolphin and air crew, which will join the search Saturday.

Also joining the search Saturday morning will be units and members of the Honolulu Fire Department, which helped recover the three deceased air crew members Thursday.

“We appreciate the assistance of the Honolulu Fire Department, the state DLNR, the U.S. Navy and Air Force, Hawaii Air National Guard and Honolulu Police Department for their help so far,” said Brown.

The weather on scene Friday night was reported to be “calm” by searchers with winds out of the east at 10 knots and seas of four to six feet.

Former U.S. Coast Guard Officer Sentenced for Lying About Vessel Pollution

WASHINGTON — David G. Williams, a former Chief Warrant Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and main propulsion assistant for the Coast Guard Cutter Rush, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hawaii for making a false statement to federal criminal agents investigating allegations of potential discharges of oil-contaminated waste from the cutter into the Honolulu Harbor, announced Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Williams was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine, serve 200 hours of community service and serve two years of probation.

Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 8, 2007, for lying to federal criminal investigators about his knowledge of the direct overboard discharge of bilge wastes through the ship’s deep sink into the Honolulu Harbor. As the main propulsion assistant, he oversaw the maintenance of the main diesel engines and other machinery in the engine room for the Rush, a 378 ft. high-endurance cutter stationed in Honolulu. On May 1, 2008, Williams pleaded guilty to making a false statement to federal law enforcement agents.

According to the plea agreement, on or about March 8, 2006, Williams had knowledge of the direct discharge of bilge wastes into Honolulu Harbor. The Engineering Department personnel aboard the Rush engaged in an unusual and abnormal operation and configuration of engine room equipment to pump bilge wastes from the aft bilge to the deep sink and overboard into Honolulu Harbor, thereby bypassing the “oily water separator” (OWS) system. The OWS system is a pollution prevention control device used by high endurance Coast Guard cutters like the Rush to manage accumulations of bilge wastes while underway at sea. The OWS system collects, stores and processes wastes to separate the water from the oil and other wastes.

On or about March 13, 2006, the State of Hawaii Department of Health received an anonymous complaint stating that Rush crew members were ordered to pump approximately 2,000 gallons of bilge waste into Honolulu Harbor. On May 1, 2006, investigators from the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) received confirmation from Main Propulsion Division personnel who personally participated that bilge wastes had indeed been discharged through the deep sink and into Honolulu Harbor. CGIS investigators obtained various corroborative documents from the Rush, including engineering and ship’s logs, tank level sounding sheets, as well as the pneumatic pump used to facilitate the discharges.

When interviewed by investigators from the CGIS, Williams denied knowledge of personnel discharging bilge waste to the deep sink and stated that he was not aware of the pumping of bilge wastes to bypass the ship’s OWS system.

The government’s investigation was initiated by the CGIS. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Section Chief Joseph A. Poux of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section; Ronald G. Johnson, chief of the Major Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney William L. Shipley, both of the District of Hawaii; and Commander Timothy P. Connors of the Coast Guard.

Cutter Rush to Hold Change of Command Ceremony

HONOLULU (D14 Public Affairs) - A change-of-command ceremony is scheduled for the commanding officer of the Coast Guard cutter Rush at Coast Guard Integrated Support Command, Honolulu Friday at 10 a.m.

Capt. Robert J. Tarantino will relieve Capt. Peter J. Bergeron, Rush’s commanding officer since August 2006. Bergeron’s next assignment is Coast Guard Sector Boston where he will serve as the Sector’s response commander.

Bergeron was responsible for the cutter’s effective engagement in Coast Guard search and rescue, law enforcement, homeland security, and international operations across the Pacific Ocean.

Tarantino comes to the Rush from a tour at Harvard University where he completed a National Security Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. This is Tarantino’s sixth tour at sea and his third command aboard a Coast Guard cutter.

Capt. Douglas J. Wisniewski, Coast Guard Pacific Area chief of staff, will preside over the ceremony.

The change-of-command ceremony is a time-honored tradition, which formally restates to the officers and crew of a unit the continuity and authority of command. It involves the total transfer of responsibility, authority and accountability from one individual to another.

Rush is one of two 378-foot high endurance cutters based in Honolulu. Rush’s primary missions include defense operations, enforcement of laws and treaties, and search and rescue throughout the Pacific. Rush has a complement of 20 officers and 148 crewmembers.

For more information about the Coast Guard cutter Rush, please visit www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcRush/