Incident on DCL at sea?

[Dug720]

Wow. so it does happen. When I read about it I thought there's just no way that can happen.
Where does the helicopter hover? over the top deck or the side? Do they close the deck entirely to ppl? That would be my guess.
As eerie as it sounds I'd like to see a helicopter maneuver close to a ship.

Some ships have an actual helipad that is used in those type of cases.

On Disney ships and ships without a helipad, they would likely have to hover.

 

[GPaLarry]

We have been on nine DCL cruises and twice, on different cruises, we were met by an ambulance as we docked at a foreign port. No announcement was made, probably because it was not serious enough and our itinerary did not change. Last one was in Mexico and the patient walked into the back of the ambulance with spouse and luggage. Heck of a way to end a cruise.

 

[clten]

Wow. so it does happen. When I read about it I thought there's just no way that can happen.
Where does the helicopter hover? over the top deck or the side? Do they close the deck entirely to ppl? That would be my guess.
As eerie as it sounds I'd like to see a helicopter maneuver close to a ship.

Yes it does happen. We've seen a helicopter evacuation from Castaway Cay (they can land a helicopter at the end of the dock) and on one of the Transatlantics we left Florida and were sailing North. We were informed that we would be diverting slightly toward North Carolina as they were going to medivac an injured passenger. This was on the Magic and if I remember correctly, they used the basketball court area at the back of the ship as the staging area. That area was closed off obviously but we were able to stand out on the open decks and watch. The helicopter came in an hovered above that area to lower the Coast Guard "swimmer" and the basket for the patient. While the patient was prepared, the helicopter moved off to the side of the ship and hovered there. Once the "swimmer" had the patient in the basket, the helicopter came back over the staging area, lifted the basket first, moved away from the ship a little bit while raising the basket and I assume moving the basket clear of the door, then moved back over the ship to raise the "swimmer". As a spectator, it was impressive to watch the Coast Guard at work. As the patient or family members, I imagine it was a whole different experience.

 

[lanejudy]

"Bright Star" - though that is any medical emergency. I've heard it used when someone fell and broke their ankle or leg.

Yes, "bright star" is the code for medical emergency. I've also heard that, while very rarely used, "rising star" is code for a death. I'm not sure in what context it might be used -- maybe to cancel a bright star announcement? I don't believe any such announcements are necessarily made for the benefit of the public (other passengers) but for staff. Any communications for the passengers would be in layman's terms and only if necessary due to itinerary changes.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[DisneYE]

Some ships have an actual helipad that is used in those type of cases.

On Disney ships and ships without a helipad, they would likely have to hover.

yah, I've seen helipads on cruise ships (in pictures) and once in real life a huge yacht in Puerto Vallarta that belongs to an American tycoon that goes there regularly, with a helicopter actually 'parked' on it.

The DCL ships have a weird configuration that seems wouldn't allow for a helicopter to land, with the pools, Goofy's sports, adult area in the upper decks. That's why I was curious as to how a helicopter would medvac someone if needed.

I have this image in my mind from 'the perfect storm' movie and it looks really cool, but so dangerous.

 

[otten]

yah, I've seen helipads on cruise ships (in pictures) and once in real life a huge yacht in Puerto Vallarta that belongs to an American tycoon that goes there regularly, with a helicopter actually 'parked' on it.

The DCL ships have a weird configuration that seems wouldn't allow for a helicopter to land, with the pools, Goofy's sports, adult area in the upper decks. That's why I was curious as to how a helicopter would medvac someone if needed.

I have this image in my mind from 'the perfect storm' movie and it looks really cool, but so dangerous.

I actually attended a keynote by one of the Coast Guard captains who was involved in the rescue operations during that storm. Very interesting.

 

[eminemilie]

We had a medivac on our cruise this past Christmas (not on DCL). I have always been very interested in the Coast Guard, so I had read a lot about their procedures prior to our cruise and watching the medivac live.

One of the things that surprised me the most was learning that the vast majority of the time, helicopters hover over the ship even if the ship has a helipad. It is incredibly dangerous for the flight crew to actually land on cruise ships, due to a combination of wind, waves, and the fact that you can’t really stop the ship from moving around at sea. On our cruise, the helipad was used as a staging area for the medical team and flight crew.

There are a decent number of videos on YouTube that show medical evacuation for people who are interested in seeing how they are done.

 

[Rob1872]

Yes it does happen. We've seen a helicopter evacuation from Castaway Cay (they can land a helicopter at the end of the dock) and on one of the Transatlantics we left Florida and were sailing North. We were informed that we would be diverting slightly toward North Carolina as they were going to medivac an injured passenger. This was on the Magic and if I remember correctly, they used the basketball court area at the back of the ship as the staging area. That area was closed off obviously but we were able to stand out on the open decks and watch. The helicopter came in an hovered above that area to lower the Coast Guard "swimmer" and the basket for the patient. While the patient was prepared, the helicopter moved off to the side of the ship and hovered there. Once the "swimmer" had the patient in the basket, the helicopter came back over the staging area, lifted the basket first, moved away from the ship a little bit while raising the basket and I assume moving the basket clear of the door, then moved back over the ship to raise the "swimmer". As a spectator, it was impressive to watch the Coast Guard at work. As the patient or family members, I imagine it was a whole different experience.

I'm surprised that the rescue swimmer/crewmember came down. I've done a few Medivac/Humavac helicopter extractions by the Coast Guard off of Navy submarines and they always just lowered the basket and we would get the person into it. (Just in case people are interested; you NEVER touch the basket as it comes down. There is a significant voltage differential between the helicopter and the ship. You always let the basket touch the ship to discharge the charge first and then you can put someone in it.) We always appreciated the Coast Guard rescue crews; they would usually load up the basket with recent newspapers and magazines so we could catch up on what was going on in the 'real' world.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

I was on a Carnival cruise headed to Cozumel and they announce about 7:00 the evening before that there was a medical emergency and we would increase speed to arrive in Cozumel as early as possible. We had a real rough ride all evening and night and got to Cozumel about 4:30-5:00. They did let folks off earlier than scheduled that morning. Someone in my family saw an ambulance at the ship. (We were traveling in 7 cabins! ) Those were my roughest seas until my recent Aft cabin on the Fantasy!

 

[truck1]

Some ships have an actual helipad that is used in those type of cases.

On Disney ships and ships without a helipad, they would likely have to hover.

We had a medivac on our cruise this past Christmas (not on DCL). I have always been very interested in the Coast Guard, so I had read a lot about their procedures prior to our cruise and watching the medivac live.

One of the things that surprised me the most was learning that the vast majority of the time, helicopters hover over the ship even if the ship has a helipad. It is incredibly dangerous for the flight crew to actually land on cruise ships, due to a combination of wind, waves, and the fact that you can’t really stop the ship from moving around at sea. On our cruise, the helipad was used as a staging area for the medical team and flight crew.

There are a decent number of videos on YouTube that show medical evacuation for people who are interested in seeing how they are done.

The ships that do have helo pads, typically aren't used for landing a helicopter, just more of a reserved space for a hoist. The simple reason is that the military pilots (CG included) practice landing on ships all the time, but they have support crews on the ship to help the helo. Things like wheel chocks, a marshaller, chains etc. In some cases, a helo can be winched to the deck of a ship, instead of landing. The problem with a helo on a cruise ship, is the crew very rarely has any practical experience dealing with helicopters. And almost no chance to practice it. Add into that how big of a space is available and there may not be room to safely land a helo on a cruise ship, due to the span of the rotor blades. Add in the effect of the down wash on the bridge of the ship and things can get interesting real quick. Its just safer for the helo to lower someone on a hoist, and raise them then to try and land.

 

[Capt_BJ]

Retired USCG Captain here ... who was Captain of helo carrying ships and launched helos for this type of situation many times .... I was "On Scene Commander" ... but I'm not a pilot ..

a few comments

- While there's exception to every rule, in general CG helo will NOT land on a cruise ship but will hoist. believe it or not, hoist is lower risk evolution . . .

- We (CG Cutters with flight deck) trained a BUNCH to remain 'helo certified' for landing and launching helos and our equipment and procedures were examined OFTEN. Pilots (IME) are NOT fans of landing on 'unknown' platforms (not to mention needed extra annual training to be ship landing certified, not all CG pilots are ship certified. ONLY the smaller CG copter is configured for ship landing, H-65. CG version of H-60 is NOT ship landing configured and the pilots are not trained for this). IF something goes wrong they want the fire teams to be on the same page they are - knowing access to the helo, standard procedures, who will do what if things go bad. They will land on (inspected) fixed oil platforms but 'moving things' tend to be another story.

- A helo sitting on the deck of a moving ship is VERY unstable (top heavy as heck) ... a BIG part of our training involves tying down the copter as quickly as possible, and removing tie downs at the LAST second for take off. Military ships and CG cutters have some fancy systems for this procedure - cruise ship???? The helo does NOT want some guys and some ropes with no clue . . .

- for a hoist CG will generally lower the resue swimmer to ensure the victim is properly packaged and loaded. here again it is a matter of pilot prefering a known quantity on deck. In the case mentioned above when hoisting from a NAVY vessel, it is assumed the same procedures and training levels exist.

- a MOVING ship is almost always more stable then a stopped ship (remember those stabilizers you like so much). In order to keep the ship's heading steady and get the best ride the helo pilot will direct the course and speed to the ship.

- a MOVING helo is more responsive and typically has more reserve power then one in a stationary hover .. another reason for the moving ship. When we landed or launched helos we were moving and there is a specific range of relative wind speed and direction (wind realized across the deck), and pitch and roll limits for the ship. Or in simple terms "turn the aircraft carrier into the wind . . ."

- for a CG helo, if they land on deck and certain mechanical issues arise they can be unable to take off .... NOW STUCK on the cruise ship. BAD. If they stay in the air ... they will generally fly to nearest safe landing spot. Landing on my cutter, we had mechanics and tools etc and still there were many times when we returned to port for the helo to be removed by crane pending a trip to the shop!

- a cruise ship does not just call for a CG chopper and off they go .... The ship contacts a Rescue Coordination Center and evacuation options are discussed usually involving a USCG (actually PHS) Flight Surgeon who then consults with Operations to see what options are available.

- I've never seen a private LifeFlight type helo do an at sea rescue. Military/CG assets are limited by 'where they are'. USCG is not deployed internationally ... well, there ARE exceptions... For example .... While CO of a cutter working between Jamaica and Haiti we got the call at zero dark hundred about a cruise passenger with a hot appendix. The cruise ship was over 100 miles away but we COULD launch our helo, pick up the pass' and fly on to Guantanamo where a surgeon was waiting. We had the helo off deck in 30 minutes. If we had not JUST HAPPENED to be in the right place ... this didn't work.

- sometimes a helo lift, even if in range and possible - is NOT the right choice ..... some patients can be more stressed by the helo lift than their malady!

just some food for thought . . .

 

[Jessicabr]

On other ships the code is "code red" and that means there is a medical emergency onboard. It is not code for passengers but rather for a trained group of crew and the medical staff to meet in the hospital to get the equipment like stretcher, defibrillator and sorts. All ships have a morgue and no, they will never announce it to the rest of the passengers that someone has died. A helicopter would only come and pick up a person if he/she needs immediate medical care that the ship cannot provide like a heart specialist.
This is part of life....

 

[Lanie]

I actually had a medical emergency on my last cruise... They really do take care of you amazingly well, and the ambulance met me at the port. The cast members take amazingly well, both on the ship and once you're back home.

So definitely not fun to go through, but they do help make it less traumatic...

 

[mousefan73]

People die anywhere and everywhere. Has nothing to do with average age of guests, just the sheer volume of guests. Cruise ships are moving cities, an average town of 5000 people are going to have quite a few people dying every year.

The young, the old, the expected and unexpected. My uncle died at 55, suddenly. During a nice dinner with my Aunt while on vacation in the Bahamas. This was honestly a horrific period for my aunt. First your dealing with the death of a spouse and on top of that dealing with on getting the body back home. He had previous cardiovascular/ minor heart attack already. This was the big one. Only saving grace was knowing it was instant and nothing one could have done anything anyways.

 

[MinnieInVA]

Retired USCG Captain here ... who was Captain of helo carrying ships and launched helos for this type of situation many times .... I was "On Scene Commander" ... but I'm not a pilot ..

a few comments

- While there's exception to every rule, in general CG heo will NOT land on a cruise ship but will hoist. believe it or not, hoist is lower risk evolution . . .

- We (CG Cutters with flight deck) trained a BUNCH to remain 'helo certified' for landing and launching helos and our equipment and procedures were examined OFTEN. Pilots (IME) are NOT fans of landing on 'unknown' platforms (not to mention needed extra annual training to be ship landing certified, not all CG pilots are ship certified. ONLY the smaller CG copter us configured for ship landing, H-65. CG version of H-60 is NOT ship landing configured and the pilots are not trained for this). IF something goes wrong they want the fire teams to be on the same page they are - knowing access to the helo, standard procedures, who will do what if things go bad. They will land on (inspected) fixed oil platforms but 'moving things' tend to be another story.

- A helo sitting on the deck of a moving ship is VERY unstable (top heavy as heck) ... a BIG part of our training involves tying down the copter as quickly as possible, and removing tie downs at the LAST second for take off. Military ships and CG cutters have some fancy systems for this procedure - cruise ship???? The helo does NOT want some guys and some ropes with no clue . . .

- for a hoist CG will generally lower the resue swimmer to ensure the victim is properly packaged and loaded. here again it is a matter of pilot prefering a known quantity on deck. In the case mentioned above when hoisting from a NAVY vessel, it is assumed the same procedures and training levels exist.

- a MOVING ship is almost always more stable then a stopped ship (remember those stabilizers you like so much). In order to keep the ship's heading steady and get the best ride the helo pilot will direct the course and speed to the ship.

- a MOVING helo is more responsive and typically has more reserve power then one in a stationary hover .. another reason for the moving ship. When we landed or launched helos we were moving and there is a specific range of relative wind speed and direction (wind realized across the deck), and pitch and roll limits for the ship. Or in simple terms "turn the aircraft carrier into the wind . . ."

- for a CG helo, if they land on deck and certain mechanical issues arise they can be unable to take off .... NOW STUCK on the cruise ship. BAD. If they stay in the air ... they will generally fly to nearest safe landing spot. Landing on my cutter, we had mechanics and tools etc and still there were many times when we returned to port for the helo to be removed by crane pending a trip to the shop!

- a cruise ship does not just call for a CG chopper and off they go .... The ship contacts a Rescue Coordination Center and evacuation options are discussed usually involving a USCG (actually PHS) Flight Surgeon who then consults with Operations to see what options are available.

- I've never seen a private LifeFlight type helo do an at sea rescue. Military/CG assets are limited by 'where they are'. USCG is not deployed internationally ... well, there ARE exceptions... For example .... While CO of a cutter working between Jamaica and Haiti we got the call at zero dark hundred about a cruise passenger with a hot appendix. The cruise ship was over 100 miles away but we COULD launch our helo, pick up the pass' and fly on to Guantanamo where a surgeon was waiting. We had the helo off deck in 30 minutes. If we had not JUST HAPPENED to be in the right place ... this didn't work.

- sometimes a helo lift, even if in range and possible - is NOT the right choice ..... some patients can be more stressed by the helo lift than their malady!

just some food for thought . . .

I'm a retired Navy helo pilot, and I can confirm that CAPT BJ is spot on for the helo stuff. Military helo pilots cannot land on a ship they're not certified for, and cruise ships definitely fall in the "not certified" category. And cruise ships have all sorts of stuff (antennas, funnels, deck chairs, people, etc) that can cause a serious hazard if we even could attempt a landing. We practiced "hovering" over moving things on a regular basis, and asking the ship to maneuver to get us better winds for our hover is part of the operation. For Navy helos, if we were to support something like this, we would also send down a rescue swimmer to make sure the hoist goes safely for everyone involved - and to help keep everyone calm in what is probably a rather unnerving situation for the patient involved.

 

[Rob1872]

- for a hoist CG will generally lower the resue swimmer to ensure the victim is properly packaged and loaded. here again it is a matter of pilot prefering a known quantity on deck. In the case mentioned above when hoisting from a NAVY vessel, it is assumed the same procedures and training levels exist.

CAPT, makes perfect sense!

 

[DisneYE]

Retired USCG Captain here ... who was Captain of helo carrying ships and launched helos for this type of situation many times .... I was "On Scene Commander" ... but I'm not a pilot ..

a few comments

- While there's exception to every rule, in general CG heo will NOT land on a cruise ship but will hoist. believe it or not, hoist is lower risk evolution . . .

- We (CG Cutters with flight deck) trained a BUNCH to remain 'helo certified' for landing and launching helos and our equipment and procedures were examined OFTEN. Pilots (IME) are NOT fans of landing on 'unknown' platforms (not to mention needed extra annual training to be ship landing certified, not all CG pilots are ship certified. ONLY the smaller CG copter us configured for ship landing, H-65. CG version of H-60 is NOT ship landing configured and the pilots are not trained for this). IF something goes wrong they want the fire teams to be on the same page they are - knowing access to the helo, standard procedures, who will do what if things go bad. They will land on (inspected) fixed oil platforms but 'moving things' tend to be another story.

- A helo sitting on the deck of a moving ship is VERY unstable (top heavy as heck) ... a BIG part of our training involves tying down the copter as quickly as possible, and removing tie downs at the LAST second for take off. Military ships and CG cutters have some fancy systems for this procedure - cruise ship???? The helo does NOT want some guys and some ropes with no clue . . .

- for a hoist CG will generally lower the resue swimmer to ensure the victim is properly packaged and loaded. here again it is a matter of pilot prefering a known quantity on deck. In the case mentioned above when hoisting from a NAVY vessel, it is assumed the same procedures and training levels exist.

- a MOVING ship is almost always more stable then a stopped ship (remember those stabilizers you like so much). In order to keep the ship's heading steady and get the best ride the helo pilot will direct the course and speed to the ship.

- a MOVING helo is more responsive and typically has more reserve power then one in a stationary hover .. another reason for the moving ship. When we landed or launched helos we were moving and there is a specific range of relative wind speed and direction (wind realized across the deck), and pitch and roll limits for the ship. Or in simple terms "turn the aircraft carrier into the wind . . ."

- for a CG helo, if they land on deck and certain mechanical issues arise they can be unable to take off .... NOW STUCK on the cruise ship. BAD. If they stay in the air ... they will generally fly to nearest safe landing spot. Landing on my cutter, we had mechanics and tools etc and still there were many times when we returned to port for the helo to be removed by crane pending a trip to the shop!

- a cruise ship does not just call for a CG chopper and off they go .... The ship contacts a Rescue Coordination Center and evacuation options are discussed usually involving a USCG (actually PHS) Flight Surgeon who then consults with Operations to see what options are available.

- I've never seen a private LifeFlight type helo do an at sea rescue. Military/CG assets are limited by 'where they are'. USCG is not deployed internationally ... well, there ARE exceptions... For example .... While CO of a cutter working between Jamaica and Haiti we got the call at zero dark hundred about a cruise passenger with a hot appendix. The cruise ship was over 100 miles away but we COULD launch our helo, pick up the pass' and fly on to Guantanamo where a surgeon was waiting. We had the helo off deck in 30 minutes. If we had not JUST HAPPENED to be in the right place ... this didn't work.

- sometimes a helo lift, even if in range and possible - is NOT the right choice ..... some patients can be more stressed by the helo lift than their malady!

just some food for thought . . .

Captain, what a great comment. Very informative.
Thanks for posting it.
And thank you for your service.

 

[DisneYE]

I'm a retired Navy helo pilot, and I can confirm that CAPT BJ is spot on for the helo stuff. Military helo pilots cannot land on a ship they're not certified for, and cruise ships definitely fall in the "not certified" category. And cruise ships have all sorts of stuff (antennas, funnels, deck chairs, people, etc) that can cause a serious hazard if we even could attempt a landing. We practiced "hovering" over moving things on a regular basis, and asking the ship to maneuver to get us better winds for our hover is part of the operation. For Navy helos, if we were to support something like this, we would also send down a rescue swimmer to make sure the hoist goes safely for everyone involved - and to help keep everyone calm in what is probably a rather unnerving situation for the patient involved.

This is so cool.
Very interesting ppl on this forum, is why I love it. Captain BJ, and you a Navy pilot. Wow.
I'd love to cruise with you. - Please wear your caps when you're on the DCL , so I can buy you a drink and thank you for your service in person if we're on the same ship.
I once spotted an older gentleman wearing his ship's cap while sitting in the adult area. An XO submariner. I offered to buy him a drink at the currents bar. Chatted about submarines for 2 hours over beers and cigars. One of the coolest highlights of all the cruises I've taken.

 

[kiford]

Yes, "bright star" is the code for medical emergency. ... I don't believe any such announcements are necessarily made for the benefit of the public (other passengers) but for staff.

We've several times heard "Bright Star, Bright Star" plus a location over the PA. As PP stated, it's not intended for passengers which is why they don't yell "medical emergency" since they don't really want you to know. They want to notify all relevant crew where to be without having to track them down individually to notify them but also don't want to alarm passengers or have gawkers. I would say that it wouldn't surprise me if there had been such announcements in the days before I knew what it meant and I just ignored them since it didn't appear to pertain to me.

 

[sz92]

I was on board this sailing and there was indeed a Cost Guard evacuation that took place on Monday from the Fantasy. Not uncommon as many have stated. Not sure of the circumstances and it didn't effect our itinerary other then a brief stop at sea.