Aereo "salva" yacht

[77W]

Una storia molto interessante (e forse inusuale), da Av Herald:

"An Air Canada Boeing 777-200, registration C-FIUJ performing flight AC-33 (dep Oct 14th) from Vancouver,BC (Canada) to Sydney,NS (Australia), was enroute over the Pacific Ocean about 350nm northeast of Sydney.

An ANZ Air New Zealand Airbus A320-200, registration ZK-OJE performing flight NZ-703 from Auckland (New Zealand) to Sydney,NS (Australia), was enroute over the Pacific Ocean about 600nm eastsoutheast of Sydney.

At that time Australia's emergency services received an emergency call from a yacht, the mast of which had separated and which was drifting away from Australia with fuel and other supplies depleting.

The Boeing 777-200 was determined to be closest to the yacht in distress about 270nm east of Sydney, the crew changed course by about 10 degrees to overfly the location of the yacht descending to about 6000 feet in the process with both crew and passengers looking out of the windows to find the ship. After establishing visual contact with the yacht the crew provided accurate coordinates to rescue vessels on their way to the yacht. The Airbus A320-200 also changed course to overfly the estimated position of the yacht and check the status.

Australia's Maritime Safety Agency said it was quite unusual to enlist the assistance of commercial airliners, the location however was so remote that only airliners in the area could have provided necessary details. The yacht had departed Australia's coast north of Sydney two weeks ago on its way to southern Australia, but had been drifting away from Australia following the loss of the mast for about a week. A merchant ship, closest to the confirmed position of the yacht, changed route to assist the yacht until rescue ships arrive. The sailor is in good spirit. After arrival of rescue personnel it will be decided whether the yacht needs to be abandoned."

[Paolo_61]

Mi ricorda un avvenimento di molti anni fa, quando l'equipaggio di un volo AF sul Nord Atlantico riuscì a individuare i naufraghi di una barca a vela affondata (il comandante vide il riflesso dello specchietto solare di cui sono dotati i battellini di salvataggio), scese per verificare l'avvistamento e notificò poi le coordinate esatte.
Non ricordo altri dettagli (tipo l'anno), ma ricordo di aver visto in TV l'intervista ai vari protagonisti dell'avventura.

[sardinian aviator]

Storia molto bella; ricorda tempi lontani.

[albert]

Storia molto bella; ricorda tempi lontani.

Veramente. Ho letto che tutti i passeggeri del 772 Air Canada seduti presso i finestrini hanno partecipato alla ricerca, scrutando verso il mare...