Search and Rescue

“Suddenly the patrol boat accelerated to a plane. I thought the BM2 was just feeling his oats until Luwanda beckoned me into the cabin. “You can swim, right, Garrett?” The BM2 asked. “Yes, of course. What’s up?” “I hope you remember your rescue swimmer training in boot camp. I hereby dub thee a fully qualified rescue swimmer. There’s a dry suit that should fit you, a mask, fins, PFD, and a harness in the cabinet over there. Get ready to swim. This is not a drill.” “Really? Aye-aye. What’s going on?” “Airplane in distress. They’re gonna ditch. I need you in the water to make sure everyone gets out. Luwanda will be your tender.” “Aye-aye, Boats! I’m on it!” “I had no idea what I was getting into since my rescue swimmer training was just in a pool, but I was determined not to let these guys down. With my heart beating a thousand beats a minute, I found the gear and, with Luwanda’s help, donned the fleece and drysuit. Luwanda strapped a large knife to my leg and fastened a safety harness around my waist. She would be tending a light rope attached to a ring on the back of the safety harness. I put on an inflatable life jacket and picked up the fins and mask just as the Mechanic yelled out, “Rescue Swimmer, prepare to enter the water!” “The boat was slowing. Luwanda and I moved aft to the line-handling cockpit, the lowest part of the boat. Looking around, I finally saw the airplane flying directly at us, extremely low to the water. It was a twin-engine model with the wing under the fuselage. One engine was dead, and the other was obviously in the last stages of life. The BM2 turned the patrol boat away from the incoming aircraft, which bounced into the water beside us, skipping along like a well-thrown rock, maybe fifty feet away on our starboard side. It finally came to an abrupt stop with a huge splash. Thank God for smooth water! As the patrol boat came alongside, I immediately heard the order from the MK3: “Deploy the Rescue Swimmer!” “I was ready, so over I went, reaching the aircraft in less than a minute. Kicking off my fins, I climbed up on the slippery wing. I could see four people inside: two adults and two young kids, maybe eight and ten. The pilot was fighting with the door, which wasn’t budging. “The plane was slowly sinking. I could see water entering the cockpit from around the doors, yet the door wouldn’t budge. I tried shimmying my knife in and failed. Nothing. I banged on the window, thinking I could break it out, but it was plexiglass or Lexan and only flexed without breaking. Now, I was getting as worried as the occupants. I clambered over the fuselage to the passenger side and tried that door. I yanked on the door, and it budged a bit. So, I used the knife as leverage and pried it until the door finally popped open with the help of a hard kick by the pilot. I reached in and yanked the panicked woman out. She was screaming about her kids in the backseat. The man clambered out as well. With the door open, the plane was filling with water fast. It wouldn’t be afloat for more than a minute or so. I reached in, pulled the front seat forward, and yelled at the kids to unfasten their belts. They were both hysterical and non-responsive. Suddenly, the plane went vertical, starting its final descent, and dumped us all in the water. I unfastened my harness and put it on the man. “Hold your wife tight and get away from the plane! I’ll get the kids!” “He was barely calm enough to obey me, though his wife was hysterical. Luwanda and the MK3 pulled them back to the boat as I turned my attention to the plane. The open door was wholly submerged. Only the air bubble in the back of the fuselage and cockpit kept the plane afloat, though that was fast escaping. I took a deep breath, ducked underwater to the door, and entered the cockpit. The kids thrashed in the back seat in a panic, but they were alive and had air for now. I could see that they had unfastened their seatbelts, so I had to get them to calm down enough to hold their breaths and duck underwater to the door. I emerged beside them into the air bubble. “Hi, guys!” I said as calmly as possible, though I was only slightly less panicked than their mother. “I’m Garrett. You guys ready to get out and join Mom and Dad?” “The girl grabbed me around the neck. The boy was sobbing but nodded. “Okay. Here goes. We’ve gotta take a deep breath and go down into the water. The door is right here. I’ll guide you, okay?” “The boy nodded. The girl just held me tighter and cried. “One, two, three – deep breath!” “They both complied. I sank into the water holding the boy’s hand, found the door, and struggled my way out since I now had the added size of the girl in my arms, and my hands were both in use. I yanked the boy through behind me and may have banged him around in the process. Looking up, I suddenly realized that the plane had already sunk, and we were now deep underwater. I kicked free of the plane and held onto the boy as we rose to the surface. The air in my dry suit pulled us quickly to the surface. I pushed the gasping kids into the fresh air, then inflated my life jacket. I had done all I could. I couldn’t swim with the kids, but I had gotten them out of the plane and safely to the surface.”