NAF Misawa Pilots Locate Missing Kayakers
Navy News Service
Story Number: NNS110523-03
5/23/2011
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Matthew M. Bradley
NAVAL AIR FACILITY MISAWA, Japan (NNS) -- Naval Air Facility Misawa (NAFM) pilots and aircrew played a vital role in a search and rescue mission to locate 4 missing kayakers May 23.
The kayakers, Master Sgt. Gerald White and his wife, Yvonne White, Senior Airman Kinga Nowicka and Tech Sgt. James Cummings, were spotted by U.S. and Japanese aircraft that began searching for them that morning.
Flying the NAFM C-12 Huron aircraft, the pilots spotted the kayakers, and were able to radio their position to a Japanese helicopter and vessel that performed the rescue.
Lt. Cmdr. Frank Lee, NAFM Operations Department officer, said it's a great feeling to be able to assist in the rescue.
"Its great to know that we were able to spot them and see that they were brought to safety," said Lee. "We were flying lower than we typically fly in the C-12 to give ourselves a better chance of spotting them."
The four were located approximately 10 miles off the coast, and had been missing since around 5:30 p.m. the previous day.
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