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Washington – U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air Interdiction Agents successfully located and coordinated the rescue of five passengers from a burning yacht 250 nautical miles from the Southwest coast of Costa Rica on Oct. 25.

Coordinating the rescue from the air, CBP’s Air Interdiction Agents worked with a nearby fishing vessel and a U.S. Navy ship to bring the crew to safety.

"These five survivors will live to tell their story thanks to modern technology, the coordination of JIATF-S, the assistance of the Templario I, the hospitality of the USS Halyburton and the skill and professionalism displayed by the aircrews of our P-3s" said W. Ralph Basham, Commissioner U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

While conducting a counter drug interdiction operations in the Eastern Pacific, the crew of a P-3 Airborne Early Warning aircraft and a P-3 Long Range Tracker aircraft received instructions from Joint Interagency Task Force – South to locate the source of two activated Emergency Locator Beacons and assist any vessels that may be in distress. En-route and 20 minutes later, two radar surface contacts were

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detected in very close proximity to the ELB positions.

Using its onboard communications equipment, the crew of the P-3 AEW began transmitting on an emergency Marine radio channel in an effort to further identify the source of the beacons. After the first transmission, Air Interdiction Agents received a second: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday…this is the crew of the Dorothea and we have abandoned ship!"

As the P-3 LRT continued to race toward the ELB position, the P-3 AEW relayed to JIATF-S that they were in radio contact with survivors. JIATF-S immediately re-directed a U.S. Naval Ship, USS Halyburton to proceed to the position of the survivors.

Maintaining contact with the Dorothea crew, air interdictions agents learned that the crew of three men and two women abandoned the 107-foot, multilevel, wooden yacht after an engine-room fire got out of control. The crew deployed two life-rafts and a rigid hull inflatable boat, jumped into the water, swam to the rafts and moved approximately a half mile from the Dorothea, fearing an eventual explosion.

As this information was being relayed to JIATF-S, the P-3 AEW also began searching for other vessels in the vicinity, which might to be able to assist in the rescue. The P-3 crew identified the Templario I, a Panamanian tuna boat closest so the P-3 AEW and coordinated provided vectors to the ship toward the survivors.

Approximately 45 minutes after the initial radio contact with the survivors, the P-3 LRT arrived on-scene, to discover two rafts and a RIB adrift approximately one nautical mile from the Dorothea. Using specialized cameras, the P-3 crew observed the survivors and the Dorothea.

"To the naked eye, this beautiful yacht was peacefully afloat with no visible signs of distress," said crew member and Air Interdiction Agent Gary Sudhoff, "but the sensitive heat-seeking camera onboard our aircraft detected a major inferno deep within its hull." Within five minutes, the crew observed billowing smoke and flames leaping from the vessel. Soon, the entire yacht was ablaze from bow to stern.

The P-3 AEW remained at a high altitude and continued to provide radio and radar coverage of the area while the P-3 LRT circled low over the survivors to ensure their continued safety and provide a visual reference for the fast approaching tuna boat.

Approximately 90 minutes later, Templario I arrived on-scene and quickly retrieved the survivors from their rafts and transported them back to the tuna boat. Once aboard, the captain provided the survivors showers, dry clothing and hot meals while awaiting the arrival of the Naval ship due to arrive shortly after. The crew of the Dorothea was transferred to the USS Halyburton and will stay onboard until the vessel reaches its next port call in Panama today.

This is not the first time that CBP P-3s adapted their mission from an anti-narcotic operation to conduct a search and rescue mission. On Sept. 17, 2002, while on patrol in the Eastern Pacific the crew of two P-3s located a 26 foot sail boat with Richard Van Fams onboard 450 nautical miles from Costa Rica. The vessel had been a drift for more than four months after its mast collapsed during Mr. Fam’s trip from Long Beach, Calif., to Catalina Island.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of the nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.