Latest news with #AirandMarineOperations
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Cops dramatically rescue three men left treading water in darkness after their plane crashed off Florida coast
New video shows the moment rescuers saved three men after they were left treading water when their plane crashed along Florida's Treasure Coast last weekend. Officials received a distress call at 8.24 p.m. Sunday from a single-seated Cessna 172 Skyhawk as it plunged into the waters off Vero Beach after the pilot reported engine issues. The aircraft took off from Flagler Executive Airport in Palm Coast, 150 miles to the north, just before 7 p.m. The alert sparked a multi-agency search and rescue mission. It was the Indian River County Sheriff's Office helicopter, 'Hawk,' that found the three in the water using its thermal imaging and infrared cameras. Sheriff Eric Flowers said in a press conference Monday that the helicopter pilots were unable to find any visible debris from the crash, describing the rescue mission like 'looking for a needle in a haystack' in the middle of the ocean. Instead of debris, Flowers said that helicopter pilot Deputy Jonathan Lozada eventually noticed 'three heads bobbing in the water' around 8.45 p.m. Lozada told the media that conditions were stacked against the rescue teams. 'It was very dark out there,' he said in a press conference Monday. 'Even though we have night vision goggles, we're still very limited on visibility. So for us to be able to go that far offshore, it's just unsafe for us.' Lozada said the three passengers might never have been found if more time had elapsed. At around 9:50 p.m. Sunday, officials from the Air and Marine Operations, an operational component of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, found two survivors in the water, the agency said. 'Coast Guard, Coast Guard, you have two that you're in contact with. There is one more at about your 11 o'clock. He's drifting off by himself,' one of the helicopter pilots said in a video of the rescue shared by the sheriff's office on Facebook. The third man was pulled out of the water shortly after he was spotted. Bodycam footage from an Air and Marine Operations agent showed the moment one of the survivors was assisted up to the boat using a rope. The man, who later identified himself as the pilot, stated that only three people had been on board the plane. 'We have three,' he said. 'We are three.' Flowers said that the pilot appeared to be in the worst condition and in the most distress. The man was recorded screaming as he was transferred to the Coast Guard 45-foot vessel for Emergency Medical Technician evaluation after complaining of 'severe rib pain,' according to the CBP. All three survivors were taken to Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce for further medical treatment. The sheriff's office said the victims are in stable condition. Assistant Fire Chief Steve Greer of Indian River County Fire Rescue said that the three survivors attempted to swim to shore. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investigating the cause of the crash. A preliminary crash report was expected to be available on Tuesday. The plane was headed for Vero Beach Municipal Airport and had been due to land around 8:30 p.m. local time.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Border Patrol identifies strange object that fell from sky in North Texas
The Brief A large tarp-like item fell from the sky in Quinlan, Texas on Tuesday night. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations is investigating. The item has been identified as an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS). QUINLAN, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has claimed an object that people from Quinlan say fell from the sky on Tuesday night. They are calling it an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS). The TARS landed on a private ranch in Quinlan, Texas, which is in the southern part of Hunt County, east of Dallas. Witnesses told FOX 4 it looked like a very large tarp with a metal structure as "big as a truck." Police and other officials on the scene told the witness it was a balloon, but wouldn't give any other details. SKY 4 captured video of what appeared to be a crew at the scene. A crane was also on the scene. What we know In a news release on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on March 3, at 3:15 p.m., South Padre Island experienced a severe wind event that caused the Air and Marine Operations Tethered Aerostat System to break free from its tether. The contact with the Aerostat was lost shortly after it broke free, officials stated. On March 4, the Aerostat System was found in Quinlan, Texas. The Quinlan Texas Fire and Rescue in Hunt County notified the CBP. Air and Marine Operations is currently working alongside federal, state, and local officials to investigate. Debris from the crash was gathered by the Rayburn Electric Cooperative and is currently being stored in its warehouses in Rockwall. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations (AMO) uses the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to provide long-range detection of low-altitude aircraft at the radar's maximum range. TARS detects and tracks the majority of suspicious air traffic along the southwest border, including ultralight and short landing aircraft threats. The Department of Homeland Security requires this unique TARS capability in areas beyond the southwest border, including the Gulf, southern Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and extended regions throughout the Caribbean used by transnational criminal organizations for illicit smuggling of narcotics and people. From 2014 through 2020, TARS was responsible for detecting 68% of all suspected air smuggling flights approaching the southwest border from Mexico, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The TARS is around 200 feet long and is around 65 feet in diameter. The hull of the Aerostat contains two parts. The upper chamber is filled with helium and provides the Aerostat's lifting capability. The lower chamber of the hull is a pressurized air compartment. The Aerostat system consists of a helium-filled balloon, fixed-site mooring and tether controls, command and control stations, data distribution network, and maintenance support vehicles and facilities. A minimum of five operators launch and recover the TARS. The Source Information in this article is from SKY 4, witnesses on the scene, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Border Patrol identifies strange object that fell from sky in North Texas
The Brief A large tarp-like item fell from the sky in Quinlan, Texas on Tuesday night. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations is investigating. The item has been identified as an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS). QUINLAN, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has claimed an object that people from Quinlan say fell from the sky on Tuesday night. They are calling it an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS). The TARS landed on a private ranch in Quinlan, Texas, which is in the southern part of Hunt County, east of Dallas. Witnesses told FOX 4 it looked like a very large tarp with a metal structure as "big as a truck." Police and other officials on the scene told the witness it was a balloon, but wouldn't give any other details. SKY 4 captured video of what appeared to be a crew at the scene. A crane was also on the scene. What we know In a news release on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on March 3, at 3:15 p.m., South Padre Island experienced a severe wind event that caused the Air and Marine Operations Tethered Aerostat System to break free from its tether. The contact with the Aerostat was lost shortly after it broke free, officials stated. On March 4, the Aerostat System was found in Quinlan, Texas. The Quinlan Texas Fire and Rescue in Hunt County notified the CBP. Air and Marine Operations is currently working alongside federal, state, and local officials to investigate. Debris from the crash was gathered by the Rayburn Electric Cooperative and is currently being stores in its warehouses in Rockwall. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations (AMO) uses the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to provide long-range detection of low-altitude aircraft at the radar's maximum range. TARS detects and tracks the majority of suspicious air traffic along the southwest border, including ultralight and short landing aircraft threats. The Department of Homeland Security requires this unique TARS capability in areas beyond the southwest border, including the Gulf, southern Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and extended regions throughout the Caribbean used by transnational criminal organizations for illicit smuggling of narcotics and people. From 2014 through 2020, TARS was responsible for detecting 68% of all suspected air smuggling flights approaching the southwest border from Mexico, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The TARS is around 200 feet long and is around 65 feet in diameter. The hull of the Aerostat contains two parts. The upper chamber is filled with helium and provides the Aerostat's lifting capability. The lower chamber of the hull is a pressurized air compartment. The Aerostat system consists of a helium-filled balloon, fixed-site mooring and tether controls, command and control stations, data distribution network, and maintenance support vehicles and facilities. A minimum of five operators launch and recover the TARS. The Source Information in this article is from SKY 4, witnesses on the scene, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Yahoo
Air and Marine Operations intercepts immigrant-smuggling operation near Florida
Feb. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air and Marine Operations intercepted a dozen immigrants and an alleged smuggler trying to illegally enter the United States Tuesday evening. The Miami Marine Unit identified a suspicious vessel operating with no navigation lights near Florida's coastal waters shortly after 9 p.m., U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday in a news release. The agents tried to stop the vessel, but its operator did not comply until the Miami Marine Unit agents fired a warning round toward the vessel. An adult Bahamian national was found operating the vessel, which carried a dozen migrants seeking illegal entry into the United States. CBP officials described the vessel as a blue, 18-foot, single-engine center console boat. One female passenger became unresponsive and immediately was transported to a local hospital for treatment while the remaining passengers and the operator were transferred to a U.S. Coast Guard cutter to take them back to their country of origin. A Bahamian national last year was charged with federal crimes for at least three attempts to smuggle migrants from Colombia, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti into the United States using maritime routes between March 2021 and August 2022. The accused in that case is Vandrick Nelson Smith, 34, who was arrested in the Bahamas on March 6 at the request of federal prosecutors in the United States.
