EL FARO INCIDENT: USCG RECOVERS BODY

[The_Choose_1]

CEO: El Faro responsibility ends with me
TOTE President, CEO said missing cargo ship search continues  http://www.news4jax.com/news/ceo-el-faro-responsibility-ends-with-me/35674354  Here is something one doesn't see a lot a CEO of a company. http://www.news4jax.com/president-of-tote-speaks-about-el-faro/35675624 My heart still hurts today for all of these families of the missing crew members. 

[Ocklawaha]

Updated thread title is inaccurate. The Coast Guard discovered a body, but they did not recover it.

This is per the first news release.

[Josh]

Updated thread title is inaccurate. The Coast Guard discovered a body, but they did not recover it.

This is per the first news release.

Ok. This official release from the CG only states that a deceased person was "located," not recovered.
http://d7.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/2607894/

Commenters on other forums following the story, and that attended the actual press conferences stated the CG actually referred to the discovery as "human remains."

[The_Choose_1]

I started the thread I didn't change the thread. Let it go for the media gets things wrong all the time. I posted that their was 29 Americans and 4 Polish crew members after channel 4 said so then they changed their minds. I understand why the USCG didn't pick up the body. But i hope someone can. If someone can find the body again.

[acme54321]

I watched the news conference last night and thought that strange too, the guy didn't outright say they left it there but you could tell that's what happened.  Maybe they didn't believe this body was related to the incident?

[Tacachale]

I'm sure they left the body so they could save time looking for survivors. It's looking very bleak, though.

[thelakelander]

I watched the news conference last night and thought that strange too, the guy didn't outright say they left it there but you could tell that's what happened.  Maybe they didn't believe this body was related to the incident?

The body was in one of the ship's survivor suits.

[The_Choose_1]

When the U.S. Coast Guard found, and then left, a body believed to be from the the lost SS El Faro, many may have been confused. Leaving the body means almost certainly leaving it forever and the absence of real closure for a family. It almost feels... cruel. The harsh reality is that bringing the body to shore would have been even more so. 

"Our focus is on survivors. That's our mission," said Captain Mark Fedor in a press conference held earlier today. Fedor was talking about the need to move on quickly to other reported targets that may be lost if delays occur. Nothing can be done for the dead, and trying may mean the death of others. It's an awful decision to have to make.

A Different Kind of Search Now

Leaving the body behind underscores what separates the El Faro search from the average rescue mission: the 32 others that they still hope to find.

Finding a single body in a survival suit means the Coast Guard has to assume that 32 people are somewhere in the open water and spread out over hundreds of square miles and getting farther apart every hour. The El Faro case has gone from a search for a single big thing to 32 very small things. This isn't a needle in a haystack. This is 32 needles in an ever-growing hay field. This search has become more complex than any in recent memory.

Though all are hoping that survivors made it to the other life boat or into a raft, until they find a raft or another life boat those searching will not assume so, and will be in what can only be described as a controlled mad scramble.

They will race the clock and the setting sun chasing targets and reports of everything that looks like it could be... anything. A small orange flash will become a possible survivor in an immersion suit and the nearest helicopter or boat will be sent to investigate, verify the target, and move on to the next target. Anything white will become a possible survivor not in an immersion suit. Chase – verify – repeat; and they can't lose hope, and it's life and death, and all of them will hate it if they have to head back to base empty.

They will do this, no matter how many survivors or bodies they find, unless they find all of them, until the data tells them that survival in the conditions of the search area are impossible. That's when Fedor will have to call the search. I've never met him but I know he hates that part of his job the most. All in his position do.

(Another unspoken harsh reality of search and rescue is that those men and women flying the last search pattern will know they are. They take it personally.)

How Long They Search

It was little more than two months ago when these same search crews called off their seven-day search for two missing teenagers. The El Faro was lost farther south in water perhaps slightly warmer. And the crew had access to survival suits.

There is a lot of data that feeds the Coast Guard's tool – the Probability of Survival Detection Aid (PSDA) –  used to predict survival time. They factor in air temp, water temp, sea state, humidity, etc., and also include details about the victims. They use age and weight and sex and what they were wearing, also what gear they have on. Assuming – as they must – that all survivors made it off the El Faro in an immersion suit, this massive search for 32 still-missing crew could last a very long time indeed.

Leaving the body behind was a necessary bad thing done for the good of the others who may still be alive. There are 32 of them and they are out there somewhere and the clock is running. It's a harsh reality to take in and I'm sure those men and women out there searching wish they didn't have to do it, but it's the kind of decision that sometimes has to be made. Let's hope, along with them, that they won't have to make it again. https://gcaptain.com/the_32_others/?utm_source=gCaptain+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=f2b4702779-Mailchimp_RSS_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_f50174ef03-f2b4702779-146542273#.VhRBBiuSX0c

[mtraininjax]

My question is a simple one on this tragedy......why not use drones to cover more space and then with planes available, send the planes and copters to the area that the drone finds people/debris? The field is large and getting larger by the hour, can 4 planes and a cutter and 3 tug boats hope to cover it all?

[The_Choose_1]

My question is a simple one on this tragedy......why not use drones to cover more space and then with planes available, send the planes and copters to the area that the drone finds people/debris? The field is large and getting larger by the hour, can 4 planes and a cutter and 3 tug boats hope to cover it all?

The sad facts are during a hurricane when the El Faro sank a lot of the crew may have gone down with her. The USCG wasn't able to start the search ASAP. And it's not like they haven't done this before. The next part is the hardest calling off the search for life altogether.

[acme54321]

I read that the depth where they believe the ship went down is 15000ft which will also hamper and investigation into what exactly happened.

[The_Choose_1]

I read that the depth where they believe the ship went down is 15000ft which will also hamper and investigation into what exactly happened.

True but how deep was the Titanic when Americans found it?

[Tacachale]

I read that the depth where they believe the ship went down is 15000ft which will also hamper and investigation into what exactly happened.

True but how deep was the Titanic when Americans found it?

12k feet. And it took them over 70 years to find it.

[The_Choose_1]

Updated: 4:01 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015 | Posted: 12:59 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015
Coast Guard to suspend search for El Faro crew, no survivors

By Stephanie Brown and Rich Jones

Jacksonville, Fl —

Calling it a "painful" decision, the Coast Guard is suspending its search for the 33 member crew of the El Faro container ship at sunset tonight.

One body was found in a survival suit over the course of their search, but there were no other signs of the others who were on board. One life boat was recovered but badly damaged, while the second one was never located. The Coast Guard says they believe if the second life boat was on the water, they would have found it.

The decision to suspend the search was first communicated to families during a meeting today at the Seafarers International Union. WOKV confirmed the decision with families shortly after that meeting.

The families of the crew members tell us they're mad and frustrated that the search is ending. They believe there should still be hope, even though the NTSB now says there were no survivors.

The vessel is believed to have sunk last week when it got caught in Hurricane Joaquin. While Joaquin was a Tropical Storm when the heavily loaded container ship left Jacksonville, it was a Category 4 Hurricane when it met the ship.

The NTSB says its investigation is just beginning, vowing to cover every aspect of what happened in order to figure out what went wrong and how to prevent that in the future. A go-team is expected to be in Jacksonville for 7-10 days and will not draw a conclusion on the cause of this sinking while they are in town, we're told that determination could take about a year.

This is a developing story that will be updated through the day.  http://www.wokv.com/news/news/local/families-el-faro-crew-say-coast-guard-will-suspend/nnxPM/

[The_Choose_1]

Crew of the SS El Faro as provided by Tote Maritime via the U.S. Coast Guard:

    Louis Champa, Palm Coast, Florida
    Roosevelt Clark, Jacksonville, Florida
    Sylvester Crawford Jr., Lawrenceville, Georgia
    Michael Davidson, Windham, Maine
    Brookie Davis, Jacksonville, Florida
    Keith Griffin, Fort Myers, Florida
    Frank Hamm, Jacksonville, Florida
    Joe Hargrove, Orange Park, Florida
    Carey Hatch, Jacksonville, Florida
    Michael Holland, North Wilton, Maine
    Jack Jackson, Jacksonville, Florida
    Jackie Jones, Jr., Jacksonville, Florida
    Lonnie Jordan, Jacksonville, Florida
    Piotr Krause, Poland
    Mitchell Kuflik, Brooklyn, New York
    Roan Lightfoot, Jacksonville Beach, Florida
    Jeffrey Mathias, Kingston, Massachusetts
    Dylan Meklin, Rockland, Maine
    Marcin Nita, Poland
    Jan Podgorski, Poland
    James Porter, Jacksonville, Florida
    Richard Pusatere, Virginia Beach, Virginia
    Theodore Quammie, Jacksonville, Florida
    Danielle Randolph, Rockland, Massachusetts
    Jeremie Riehm, Camden, Delaware
    Lashawn Rivera, Jacksonville, Florida
    Howard Schoenly, Cape Coral, Florida
    Steven Shultz, Roan Mountain, Tennessee
    German Solar-Cortes, Orlando, Florida
    Anthony Thomas, Jacksonville, Florida
    Andrzej Truszkowski, Poland
    Mariette Wright, St. Augustine, Florida
    Rafal Zdobych, Poland