Cape Cod aircrew locates 4 survivors of sunken tug near Jamaica

BOSTON — While assisting with Haiti relief operations, a Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., aircrew located a life raft with four survivors from a tug that sank approximately 53 miles north of Jamaica, Monday, Jan. 25, 2010.

Search and rescue coordinators at the Seventh Coast Guard District command center in Miami dispatched a Cape Cod-based HU-25 Falcon jet crew to search for the U.S.-flagged tug, Betty, after receiving an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert from the boat at 3:39 a.m.

The Falcon crew arrived on scene at 6:50 a.m., and located the life raft with survivors near the vessel's last known position. A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the four crewmembers aboard the helicopter.

The men were taken to U.S. Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Their condition is unknown.

The two aircrews and an HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircrew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala., also conducted a searched for a fifth crewmember of the tug, but did not locate him. The Coast Guard ended its search for the last crewman Tuesday, Jan. 26.

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