WEST HAMPTON BEACH . NY – The New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing is assisting in the search for four missing fishermen in the Atlantic, approximately 1,000 miles east of Bermuda.
An HC-130 Hercules search and rescue aircraft from the wing arrived in Bermuda at approximately 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time to refuel and join in the search for the crewmen from the Jose Almuiña, a 91-foot long Spanish-flagged fishing that had 11 sailors on board. Seven of those sailors have already been recovered.
Six of the crewmembers were recovered from a life raft, while a seventh was recovered from the water.
The 106th Rescue Wing was asked to participate in the search shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6. by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall, Air Force Base , Florida.
The wing dispatched the HC-130 with 19 crewmembers and two Zodiac boats which can be airdropped to aide survivors, at 6 a.m. Friday morning.
The 106th’s aircraft is currently engaged in the search as part of a joint United States Coast Guard/U.S. Air Force rescue effort with Coast Guard C-130s that are also on the scene.
The Coast Guard received an emergency signal from the Jose Almuiña at about 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 6 and two vessels were diverted to the location. The SKS Mosel from Norway recovered one crewmember from the water, while the Marshall Island’s registered Navigate Stealth II located the life raft with six people aboard.
The 106th Rescue Wing specializes in extracting aircrew down behind enemy lines. The unit, based at Gabreski Field Air National Guard Base in West Hampton Beach, N.Y. also provides a search and rescue capability along the Atlantic Coast.
