A coast Guard helicopter crew from Houston evacuated a 73-year-old man from Carnival Triumph in an unusual nighttime operation Thursday night (Dec 29, 2011) about 11:40pm when the ship was about 120 miles off the coast of Galveston (Texas).
The man was suffering from a blood clot in his foot. He was taken to a local hospital in the Houston area.
The video below, provided by the US Coast Guard, opens with the rescue swimmer being lowered to the deck of the cruise ship from the MH-65C Dolphin helicopter, followed by the stretcher. In the next scene, the helicopter is making another pass coming up on the ship from its stern and then hoisting the patient on the stretcher from the deck. While this is going on, note the speed at which the ship is moving through the water and how the helicopter has to synchronize its speed to appear motionless over the deck. Also note the crew member in the helicopter leaning out to steady and position the stretcher with his foot. At the end of the operation, the rescue swimmer is hoisted from the deck.
