The US Coast Guard performed a helicopter medevac from Holland America's Volendam on Friday afternoon (September 24, 2010) when the ship was about 100 miles west of the Columbia River entrance off the Oregon coast.
The Coast Guard makes this look easy, but to get an idea of the skill involved, notice the ocean that you can see off the side of the ship toward the lower right corner of the screen, and notice the speed at which the ship is moving through the water. The Coast Guard pilot has to match that speed exactly to hover motionless above the ship's pool deck.
Details appeared in the Other Things You'll Want to Know column in the September 27, 2010 edition of Cruise News Daily.
