{"id":223,"date":"2012-01-06T09:16:25","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T17:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=223"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:38:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:38:00","slug":"25-a-dog-day-in-the-coast-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/25-a-dog-day-in-the-coast-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"#25 A Dog Day in the Coast Guard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people won\u2019t take much note of the recent passing of a retired Coast Guard pilot named Matt Ahearn. I did. It brought back a favorite memory of my time in the Coast Guard and of one of that service\u2019s great airmen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was March 9, 1970. We were cruising down the coastline, low over the cliffs lining the Pacific Ocean just south of San Francisco. The HH52A helicopter was the search and rescue workhorse of the Coast Guard at that time. Underpowered and overweight, it still performed admirably in the hands of capable pilots. My time in the left seat of the helicopter was rare enough that it was always a thrill. LCDR Matt Ahearn was the pilot. As a SAR (search and rescue) crewman, I flew with several different pilots. Ahearn was one of my favorites. I didn\u2019t know him well, but found him to be competent and always willing to give an eager enlisted man some stick time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The The HH52A. You can see the rescue hoist above the open doorway. Note the tailwheel!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was in the left seat because at that time we were short of co-pilots. When a flight went out without a left seater, the SAR crewman would often occupy the left seat unless he was needed to run the hoist from the rear open doorway. Then he\u2019d scamper into the back, open the sliding door and lower the rescue basket. The old fashioned \u201cHorsecollar\u201d sling was onboard and available, but regulations stated that it was only to be used by military personnel.<\/p>\n

We got a call from the base that there was a case developing on the cliffs south of Half Moon Bay. Off we went. More details came in over the VHF. It seemed that a dog had fallen off the cliff and was in the surf among the rocks. There is no beach along that stretch of coastline, just an angry jumble of jagged rocks. We arrived on the scene and could see a couple of people on the cliff top. They gestured to us and we swooped down to the ocean below. There, clinging to a rock, was a big Labrador retriever.\u00a0 The dog\u2019s perch was tenuous. Waves broke over his head and he was barely able to hang on to the rock on which he\u2019d found temporary refuge. Mr. Ahearn and I talked it over. Although he could run the winch from his position, he was unwilling to lower me to the dog. I couldn\u2019t blame him. I might have been willing to go down on the cable, but it wouldn\u2019t have been smart. Without a co-pilot, who would normally be the poor slob we\u2019d lower, the job was virtually impossible. We decided to land on the cliff and talk to the dog\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n

The HH52 settled to the ground on the cliff top. I hopped out and met the dog\u2019s owner, a strapping young man and his father. The dog\u2019s name was \u201cChris\u201d and he had simply fallen off the cliff while scampering along the edge. I explained the situation, that without a copilot we just couldn\u2019t lower someone to grab the dog. Or could we? Here was a motivated guy standing there talking to me. I knew it was against regs, but I scuttled back to the helo and got on the ICS (intercom system). \u201cwe could send that kid down for his dog\u201d, I suggested to LCDR Ahearn.
\n\u201cWe can\u2019t send a civilian in the horsecollar sling and the basket is too clumsy for this,\u201d he observed. He thought for a moment. \u201cLet\u2019s take him down there so he can see the situation and we can go from there\u201d.
\nI piled the kid in through the door and off we went. Ahearn maneuvered the helicopter as close to the rock as he could, allowing plenty of room for the rotor blades to clear the cliff. \u201cChris\u201d was still clinging to his rock. He was shaking with cold and exhaustion. My heart went out to this helpless dog. \u201cCan\u2019t we just send the kid down to grab the dog?\u201d , I implored the pilot. \u201cIt\u2019ll just take a second\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ahearn was a dog lover. More importantly, as I learned that day, he cared more for results and solutions than blind obedience to rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can put him in there if he really wants to go\u201d, the pilot cautioned me. \u201cOnly if he REALLY wants to go\u201d.
\nChris\u2019 owner didn\u2019t want to go. His reluctance was understandable. To be lowered on that little cable into raging surf and to be smacked against the rocks below was clearly not an experience to which he looked forward.
\n\u201cYour dog is going to die if we don\u2019t get him now\u201d, I pointed out to the kid. \u201cI can put you in the sling, lower you down and you grab your dog. I\u2019ll have you back up here in a flash. What do you say?\u201d The boy was still not completely sold. \u201cHe\u2019s gonna die\u201d, I reminded him.<\/p>\n

\u201cUh, well, okay\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I keyed my ICS. \u201cHe wants to go, Commander!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, let\u2019s do it\u201d, Ahearn assented.<\/p>\n

I put a lifejacket on the young man, then showed him how to don the horsecollar sling. I had him sit in the doorway as I directed the pilot over the hapless animal.<\/p>\n

A Coast Guard helicopter pilot doesn\u2019t look down at the end of the hoist cable like the pilot of a logging helicopter might. Instead, he depends on the hoist operator. That crewman maintains a steady verbal description of the position of the hoist. The pilot stares at the horizon and makes gentle changes in position and altitude, depending on what he hears from the crewman.<\/p>\n

I kicked the kid out the door and hit \u201cdown\u201d on the hoist switch. \u201cHe\u2019s out the door and going down. Position is good. He\u2019s fifty feet from the surface. Forward five feet. Looking good. Hold that position. He\u2019s almost to the surface. Move right five feet. Hold that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahearn was a \u201cgreat stick\u201d. The corrections were smooth and gentle, in spite of wind and turbulence. The kid reached the dog. He grabbed hold of \u201cChris\u2019\u201d collar and I knew that was as good a hold as we were going to get. Simultaneously, I hit the \u201cup\u201d switch and directed the pilot, \u201cmove left twenty feet to clear the rocks. Hoist is coming up\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ahearn kept the helicopter clear of the rocks and at a relatively low altitude while I finished the hoist. The drenched kid reached the door and I hauled him in with every bit of strength I had. Chris\u2019 eyes were as big as golf balls. I grabbed the dog\u2019s tail and pulled the exhausted pooch into the helicopter while slamming the sliding door. We all collapsed in a dripping heap on the floor while Ahearn blasted back to the top of the cliff and landed beside the boy\u2019s father, who was just beside himself with relief and joy at the scene he\u2019d witnessed. The reunion was touching. The father was grateful. He kept pushing cash at me and I told him he didn\u2019t have to do that.<\/p>\n

The flight back to CGAS San Francisco was quiet. I believe that LCDR Ahearn and I shared the warm feeling of a mission accomplished and perhaps a little apprehension at the reaction our use of Coast Guard assets in an unauthorized manner might bring.<\/p>\n

When I pulled off my flight suit later, tens and twenties came fluttering onto the deck. They ended up in the morale fund.
\nThe case was just one of those which would prompt a small group of us to urge the Coast Guard to adopt a program utilizing the services of specially trained rescue swimmers. We wrote it up in a formal proposal. We called it SARWET and it would be rejected until after I was no longer in the service.<\/p>\n

My friend AT2 Bill Thrall (who stayed in and eventually retired as a Commander) would carry the cause for some time and eventually there would be what is now the hugely successful Coast Guard rescue swimmer program. A program that might just owe a little of its inspiration to a scared black Lab named \u201cChris\u201d and the superb flying of the late LCDR Matthew Ahearn, USCG (Ret).<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping,
\nBrian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The passing of one of the Coast Guard’s great aviators inspires a look back at a memorable rescue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}