Gear failure forces cutter to end boat chase

[unhappycamper]

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen told a Senate subcommittee Thursday that the cutter Dallas was forced to abandon its chase of a high-speed drug vessel in the Caribbean last month because of a gear failure.


Gear failure forces cutter to end boat chase
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Mar 7, 2008 7:48:55 EST

The Coast Guard cutter Dallas was forced to abandon its chase of a high-speed drug vessel in the Caribbean last month because faulty flight-deck gear meant it couldn’t deploy its helicopter, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said Thursday. The smugglers got away.

Allen quoted the Dallas’ skipper, Capt. Eric P. Brown: “It appears the inopportune failure of a crucial piece of obsolescent equipment lost the day.”

Allen mentioned the problem aboard the Dallas as a part of his appearance before a Senate subcommittee considering the Coast Guard’s fiscal 2009 budget request. As has become routine in his public appearances around Washington, Allen described what he said was the lifesaving service’s “bona fide capacity shortage,” caused by aging ships and an insufficient number of personnel.

“There is a limit to what any organization can accomplish when the overall end strength has not changed in 50 years,” Allen said. What’s more, last year the Coast Guard spent $76 million on unanticipated repairs, he said.

The Dallas had to let the drug smugglers go because it couldn’t turn on its flight deck lights, meaning it couldn’t launch its armed MH-65C Dolphin helicopter, the first of the Coast Guard’s own upgraded, armed helicopters. Talking with reporters during a break in Thursday’s hearing, Allen said the Dallas’ crew was able to repair the problem after a few hours, but that by the time they got their gear working again, there was no way to pursue the smugglers.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/03/coastguard_dallas_chase_030608w/



uhc comment: I suspect the Deepwater program may get a second chance. Unfortunately, these guys already have $735,700,000,000 in the 2009 military budget.