MIAMI – A Coast Guard HH-65 helicopter crew from Air Station Miami rescued a diver, missing for nearly 24 hours, approximately one-mile east of Hutchinson Island, Fla., Saturday morning.
Patrick Scartozzi, 46, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., was recreational diving off a 25-foot boat when he failed to surface Friday. His friend, still aboard the vessel, contacted Coast Guard search and rescue coordinators at Station Lake Worth Inlet, Fla., via VHF radio at approximately 12:40 p.m., Friday, requesting assistance.
A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Air Station Miami, a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules crew from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bluefin and a crew from Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce, Fla., along with a Martin County Sheriffs vessel and a St. Lucie County Sheriffs vessel were launched to search for Scartozzi.
Scartozzi was hoisted by a helicopter crew and transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he was reported to be in stable condition.
The cutter Bluefin is an 87-foot foot patrol boat homeported in Fort Pierce.
