BOSTON – A Coast Guard helicopter crew airlifted a crewmember experiencing abdominal pain from a South Korean Naval vessel about 200 miles east of Cape Cod Tuesday night.
The master of the South Korean vessel, Hwacheon, called Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., around 3 p.m., requesting assistance for the 50-year-old man who had been experiencing pain for the past three days.
The Coast Guard directed the Hwacheon, which was about 450 miles east of New York City and out of range for a helicopter hoist, to altar course and head toward Cape Cod.
Once the vessel was within range, a Jayhawk helicopter crew was launched around 8:30 p.m., and a Falcon jet crew launched around 9 p.m.
The Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the man around 10 p.m. and transported him to the Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Mass., around midnight, where Hyannis Fire Department took him to Cape Cod Hospital.
The District One Coast Guard team was proud to serve the crew and naval cadets aboard the South Korean Navy Ship, Hwacheon, and help out a fellow mariner in distress,” said Lt. Aurora Fleming, a First Coast Guard District Command Center duty officer.
The crewmember was reported to be in stable condition.
Air Station Cape Cod counts this as their 9,600th search and rescue case.
