PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The search continues today for Laura Gainey, who went overboard from the sailing vessel Picton Castle about 470 miles southeast of Cape Cod.
A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 airplane searched for her throughout the night, aided by two merchant vessels and the woman’s shipmates aboard the tall ship Picton Castle. The eight-man crew of the U.S. C-130 is equipped with night vision goggles and infrared equipment for effective night searches.
A Canadian C-130 crew replaced the U.S. crew this morning and is currently searching.
The Canadian and U.S. Coast Guards and civilian crews have scoured about 1, 800 square miles of ocean during the search.
At about 9 p.m. Friday, personnel at the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, received a call from the captain of the Picton Castle reporting that one of his female crew members had gone missing from the vessel in 40 knot winds and 22-foot seas.
RCC Halifax contacted Coast Guardsmen at the RCC in Portsmouth, Va., who assumed control of the search. Since Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard has sent two C-130s and the Canadian Coast Guard has sent two C-130s to conduct the search.
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