Crew, Passengers on Air Canada Flight Help Find Stranded Yacht
Air Canada Boeing 777
Crew members and passengers aboard an Air Canada flight bound for Sydney are credited in helping to find a stranded yacht off the coast of Australia Tuesday morning.
Air Canada flight 033 [Boeing 777] from Vancouver and another Air New Zealand jet, flying from Auckland, were headed to Sydney when they were both asked to divert course.
‘The Australian Maritime Safety Authority was investigating the signal from an emergency beacon activated at 8:15 a.m. local time Tuesday morning, and wanted help confirming the GPS location.
Flight crew and passengers aboard the Air Canada flight, peering out the windows from an altitude of approximately 6,000 feet, helped locate the yacht 275 nautical miles east of Sydney. The Air New Zealand flight then flew over to confirm the location and nature of the distress.
“AMSA thanks the captains and crews of the Air Canada and Air New Zealand aircraft for their assistance in the search and rescue operation, and their passengers for their patience,” the agency said in a statement.’
After the location of the yacht was confirmed, both commercial flights continued on to their destination.
A solo yachtsman was rescued and is believed to be fine.
Category: Airnation
I didn’t know you could spot a yacht from 6000 ft. But it sure would be cool to put “Maritime Search and Rescue Operation Experience” on your resume!
I am not 100% certain but is it not possible for the onboard weather radar and proximity systems to detect an ‘object’ within a certain distance from the aircraft? I mean if one descends to 5000 or 3500 ft depending upon which inept reporter is filing, an object on the surface can be detected on the flight deck by the pilots in command?
What pleases me is that a chap or chappess in charge of a B777 ( if reporters are correct )can descend to within a mile of the surface, way off the flight plan and resume to destination with no appreciable risk to passengers. This was a flag carrier and not a bargain basement outfit and the crew have been applauded for their actions together with the help of the passengers. Had it been a certain Irish outfit I fear that the pilots would be suspended for deviating from company policy and possibly charged for the extra fuel used for the diverted excursion that was a humanitarian act.
This is testament to the skill and intelligence of those that take us all into the air and deliver us all to our destination, they never get what they truly deserve financially but they do get my admiration.