Reserve Rescue crews join search for missing boaters, NFL players

  • Published
  • By Capt. Cathleen Snow
  • 920th Rescue Wing
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Air Force Reserve Rescue crews from the 920th Rescue Wing (RQW) here took off in an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter March 1 at 5:00 p.m. to join the Coast Guard in a search for four missing boaters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Among the missing are, Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith and Oakland Raiders linebacker Victor "Marquis" Cooper. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004. The Coast Guard said the two others aboard are identified as Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg, Fla., received a call at about 1: 30 a.m., Sunday, March 1, reporting that three friends, Mr. Cooper, Skyler and Smith and a possible fourth person did not return from their fishing trip as expected. The four boaters left at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, from the Seminole Boat Ramp in Clearwater Pass, in a 21-foot center console boat. The reporting source later updated the information and confirmed there was a fourth person aboard the vessel.

The 920th RQW received notification from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center  (AFRCC) to help with the search. According to officials at the AFRCC the Coast Guard notified them at approximately 1p.m. for help with the search which started a chain reaction of notifying various Air Force units. The 920th is one of several other Air Force units which joined in on the search today.

"Our crews are the best at what they do. We'll do everything we can to find these missing men," said Col. Steve Kirkpatrick, the 920th RQW Commander.

The Coat Guard assets included a 47-foot motor-life boat crew from Station Sand Key, Fla., HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and C-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, and the Coast Guard Cutter Crocodile are searching a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass for the missing boaters.

An Urgent Mariner Information Broadcast (UMIB) is also being transmitted on marine VHF radio channel 16. If anyone has any information regarding this case they are asked to call Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg at or by marine VHF radio channel 16.

The AFRCC serves as the single agency responsible for coordinating on-land federal search and rescue (SAR) activities in the 48 contiguous United States, Mexico and Canada.

The AFRCC is located under the 1st AF (AFNORTH) at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The 920th Rescue Wing is one of the most called upon units in the Air Force Reserve. Wing members continually deploy in and around the world in support of the Global War on Terrorism and other contingencies. The wing's primary mission is combat search and rescue, but it also provides recovery support for space shuttle and rocket launches as well as humanitarian calls for help.