A Rescue in the Raging Midnight Storm

Every year, when this season of approaching typhoons arrives,
there are things I remember as if they happened yesterday.

~ DEAR to my heroes ~

The postcard that began with these words
is still kept carefully to this day.

If you hadn't come by helicopter,
I surely would have died....

That was over 25 years ago...

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In June of that year,
an unseasonable large typhoonstruck western Japan.

Although the rain was subsiding,
the back-draft winds were blowing strongly.

Just as I had finished dinner,
I received a call from work.

When I arrived at work,
off the coast of Shionomisaki, Wakayama Prefecture,the Japan Coast Guard aircraft


had spotted a drifting life raft,but had subsequently lost sight of it.
The patrol vessel "Mizuho," which carried a helicopter,

was heading to the scene,
but because the sea was so rough,
the helicopter on board the patrol vessel
could not take off.

Therefore, our flight squadron, having received the request,
launched a helicopter from the ground base
to re-search for the missing life raft
and rescue the survivors.

The area was shrouded in the veil of night,
and visual searching was reaching its limits.


At the time, I was in my late 20s,
the youngest captain in the flight squadron.

Two helicopters were already heading to the scene,
and I was to wait at the flight squadron
as the captain of the third aircraft.

The co-pilot was
a junior in his mid-20s, three years younger than me.
Two veteran crew members
would be on board as cabin crew.

Around 8:00 PM, when it had become completely dark,
the two preceding aircraft could not find the raft
and were ordered to leave the scene and return to base.

After that, the "Mizuho"
found the raft carrying the survivors.

The two helicopters already returning
could not turn back to the scene
due to the risk of running out of fuel.

The helicopter on the "Mizuho"
was also unable to take off
because the ship's hull was rocking too violently.

Therefore, the order to launch
was given to my team, which was on standby at the base.

11:45 PM, takeoff.

The 10-plus ton giant body floated softly into the air.
Then, we steered toward the pitch-black ocean
where the aftermath of the typhoon remained.

Even flying at 220 km/h,
it would take one hour to reach the scene.

Eventually, we captured the position of the "Mizuho"
on radar
and made contact via radio.

The wind at the scene was 100 km/h,
wave height 8 meters...

I could easily imagine that
not only was launching a helicopter from the patrol vessel difficult,
but even approaching the raft was nearly impossible.

On top of that, this day was
a dark night with no moonlight,
the worst environmental conditions.

Could we really accomplish this mission...
For a moment, that thought crossed my mind.

However, I had no choice but to steel myself.


I will assess the situation at the sceneand decide whether or not to proceed with the rescue.

I told the co-pilot and crew that,
and also relayed it to the command center by radio.

Just before 1:00 AM, as the date changed,
we arrived at the scene and joined up with the patrol vessel "Mizuho."

The "Mizuho"
was illuminating the life raft carrying the survivors
with its searchlight.

I passed over the life raft once
and dropped a flare nearby.

Starting approach.

I declared that and banked sharply.

To avoid falling into vertigo (spatial disorientation),I lowered the altitude relying on the instrument panel readings.

The aircraft was being sucked deeper and deeper
into the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen.

It was truly a spine-chilling experience...

Finally, the light from the searchlight
began to reach the sea surface.

However, the sea surface pattern reflected there
was far beyond what I had imagined.

Wave height 8 meters,
that is equivalent to the height of a three-story building.

The two young men in the cockpit
were at the mercy of the massive swells
that surged and receded like raging waves.

Beep, beep, beep,

Every time a large wave approached,
an eerie alarm sound
warning of an abnormal proximity to the sea surface
echoed inside the cockpit.

While preparing to break away immediately
if we were about to be swallowed by a wave,
I managed to transition to
hovering (stationary flight)at a slightly higher altitude.

From the life raft,
two people were calling for rescue.

However, the life raft, dancing like a leaf
on the raging stormy ocean,
carried the risk of being lost again and capsizing.

This is a race against time...

Having come this far, in my mind,
there was no option of "turning back without helping."

I immediately instructed the crew to
hoist them up with the winch.

Then, suddenly, the crew said to me,
If necessary, I will go down into the sea!

I was humbled by the professional spirit
of the veteran crew member, but
the two in the cockpit
were in a situation where they were doing their best
just to stabilize the aircraft.

If I lowered one crew member into the sea,
the other crew member would have to
perform the rescue alone.
Besides, the survivors were two adult men,

and they appeared to still have some strength left.


I have no choice but to have the two of them climb up on their own.
I did not approve the crew's descent for rescue,
and instructed them to rescue using the survivor sling.

Then, for about 15 minutes,
the struggle of the four continued.

Just as we finally hoisted the first person into the aircraft
and were about to instruct the rescue of the second person,
we had lost sight of the life raft.

The "Mizuho" also remained nearby
and was illuminating the life raft, but
it disappeared into the waves in an instant.

They must be nearby!
Search thoroughly!

My tone also gradually became stern.

After a while,
a little further away,
I found the life raft
dancing like a leaf.

From then on,
it took another 15 minutes to rescue the second person.
That time felt very long.

After that, we safely hoisted the second person up
and left the scene while climbing.

Since it would be a headwind on the way back,
it would take two hours to reach the base.

Even though it was June, they must be cold from being soaked in the rough sea.

I turned on the cabin heater
and had the crew check their condition.

There didn't seem to be any problems with their health,
but what was unexpected was
that they were foreigners.

Moreover, what happened that caused them
to end up drifting?

The command center and the "Mizuho"
were also
eagerly wanting to hear about that.

Are there any other survivors?
Is it necessary to launch another helicopter?

Inside the helicopter,
it is enveloped in noise
so loud that conversation is difficult.

We had the crew pass notes to ask questions,
or had them put on headphones
to talk directly.

Finally, it was determined that
they were the only survivors.

They had departed Guam about two weeks ago
and were heading to Japan,

when their yacht capsized due to the stormy weather caused by the typhoon,
and they had been drifting in the stormy waves for a full day.

At 3:30 AM, we landed safely at the base.

The two people welcomed into the ambulance
certainly looked exhausted

Slowly, one of them turned to me
and gave me a guts pose

I'm okay, thank you
They must have wanted to convey that

Mission accomplished

The four of us
were praised with joy by the flight squadron,
and later, this rescue drama
was covered by local newspapers and news,
and we received a letter of appreciation from the Commandant of the Japan Coast Guard.

I felt great pride in this job
that can only be accomplished by helicopter.

The person who gave me the guts pose
later married a Japanese woman,
and eventually they were blessed with a lovely daughter.

We exchanged letters for a while, but
I wonder what happened after that.
That child must be an adult now, and surely somewhere
living a happy life...

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The patrol vessel "Mizuho" that fought
with me in the raging seas in the middle of the night.
B'z's OCEAN, which was sung on that ship,
is one of my favorite songs.

Something common to public safety professions is

Risks are
not things to be avoided,
but things to be overcome.

That way of thinking.

If we avoid risks and give up,
things that could be saved will not be saved.

To overcome risks,
we spare no effort every day.

That is the pride and
professionalism of this field.

🌱 To the heroes of the next generation 🌱

📌 Purpose
Value "what you want to do"
rather than "what you want to become."

Pilot, doctor, diplomat...

Titles are not the goal but the means,
and what you want to achieve using that title
is what determines a person's true worth.

📌 Make up your mind
Take the initiative to make decisions yourself,
and for the results,
take full responsibility.

If you make that resolution
and steel yourself,
the path will open for anything.

📌 Persistence
Am I really doing my best?
Ask yourself only that one thing every day.

Even if you think it's no good,
persist and keep pushing again and again.
That kind of persistence
becomes the driving force for growth.

In the movie "Top Gun: Maverick,"
the protagonist Pete Mitchell said

"Don't think, just do."This means

honing your skills thoroughly
until your body moves naturally
without having to think.

By doing so,
you can cultivate the power to "turn despair into hope."

The movie "The Guardian"

Old soldiers just fade away.
Without resting on past glories,
I will continue to walk the path before me with sincerity.

In this world ruled by realism,
bravely fighting risks,
and with the passionate thoughts of many comrades
who scattered in the fields and seas in my heart.

＊Added a postscript.