Local Pararescue Team Performs Rescue Aboard Tamar Cargo Ship
Pararescuemen and Combat Rescue Officers of the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing out of Gabreski Air Force Base in Westhampton Beach work with a Portuguese search and rescue helicopter to extract patients treated from injuries sustained in an explosion on board the Motor Vessel Tamar, a 635-foot long commercial cargo ship approximately 1,300 miles east of Cape Cod.
The mission, which started with a radio call for help to the U.S. Coast Guard on April 24, led to the Pararescue team of seven men conducting a night parachute jump into the Atlantic Ocean in order to save the two injured seamen aboard the Tamar. The injured sailors, joined by three of the seven Pararescuemen, were flown to Portugal for further care, while the other four remained aboard the cargo ship. The 106th recovered all their men and flew them back to Long Island on April 29.
Video by Senior Master Sergeant Erik Blom.