From rescues in hurricane-force winds, to man-overboard situations, Sergeant Norm Penny and Captain Steve MacFadgen have spent thousands of hours performing search and rescue (SAR) at sea and have their fair share of stories to tell and advice to share.
Penny joined the military in 1993 and served multiple tours overseas, after which he came across his first SAR technician at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in 2000.
“I didn’t know what that person was, so I inquired about it and I realized they’re paramedics that parachute, scuba dive, mountain climb, fly on aircraft, jump out of aircraft and that was something I wanted to do. Something that excited me,” said Penny.
Since 2003, when he became a SAR technician, Penny has seen his fair share of emergencies at sea. One rescue that stuck with him is a situation off the coast of Newfoundland during the tail end of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. A fishing vessel facing seven to eight-metre waves ended up capsizing and the crew was stranded at sea in a life raft.
Penny and crew braved a dark, stormy night aboard a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter to reach the crew in time. Winds were blowing 70–80 kilometres an hour, which proved problematic for the rescue efforts.
“When mother nature turns up the volume in some of these situations, there’s not too much that man has created that can keep up with those things,” said Penny.
“The initial hoist couldn’t keep up with the wave action and the amount of trying to get us up and down and clearing us out of the waves, because some of those waves are the size of three-story buildings rolling through you. When they hit you, they hit you with a lot of force. It blew my fins off and my mask off my face. It injured my partner. My partner had gone down the first time to pick people up and by the time the hoist kicks in and tries to keep up with the waves it had torn through his suit with the hook and cut into his ribs.”
With one man down, Penny was left to extract the crew on his own. After getting a few people off the life raft, the hoist malfunctioned again, leaving him in a perilous situation.
“Next thing you know, I was being dragged behind the helicopter. Being dragged behind a helicopter in that kind of wave action is incredible,” said Penny. “Compare it to if you forgot you tied your dog to the bumper of a car and you drove down the road — you’re just being destroyed on the water surface.”
With no options left, the crew cut Penny loose. The impact of hitting the water tore off his fins, tore the left leg on his suit and shattered his mask. He had to be retrieved with a basket lowered on a rope without a hoist available. In the meantime, the rest of the crew aboard the raft ended up washing ashore at the base of a cliff.
photo supplied by Norm Penny
The crew commandeered a truck and raced to the scene, where they proceeded to throw ropes over the cliffs and continue extracting those remaining. Penny and his team managed to save four lives that night, for which he was awarded the Star of Courage.
“Unfortunately, two did perish that night as they succumbed to the water and the shore, but we gave whatever we could that night and we did save a few,” said Penny.
MacFadgen has logged over 1,500 operational hours as a SAR technician. Two similar incidents came to mind for him that highlights the importance of high-visibility flotation gear.
“I remember coming out one night and having someone that went overboard just outside of Halifax. He was the captain, actually. He went to the back of the boat and never came back. He was never found. It’s very tragic, but we were out all night and the next couple nights searching,” said MacFadgen.
“There was another one in Halifax Harbour. It was just a couple of guys out fishing in a small boat and it capsized and went down, unfortunately. Two made it to shore and one did not, so it was a little unique dropping flairs and to do all the stuff we usually do offshore right on top of the Halifax bridges, which is something I’ll always remember.”
MacFadgen says that in both these scenarios, whether on a 100-foot vessel or a 12-foot dory, the importance of staying safe at all times is imperative.
photo supplied by Steve MacFadgen
“People tend to disregard their own safety more than they should when it comes to lifejackets and things like that. You don’t know how quick you can end up in the water,” said MacFadgen.
MacFadgen also highlighted the importance of registering Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) to help search and rescue teams do their jobs more efficiently.
“When it’s not registered, we don’t know what we’re looking for. We have a location that could be a few miles here or there, but we don’t know the name of the boat, who’s on it or anything like that,” said MacFadgen.
“When they’re registered when this comes in, right away we get contact numbers, who owns the boat, the name of the boat, the colour of the boat, so we know exactly what to look for.”
He also doubled down on the importance of wearing high-visibility gear. He noted that being highly visible to search and rescue teams can make all the difference in being rescued in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic.
“The amount of people that go overboard from a vessel, whether it’s commercial or private that when the call comes in are reported wearing jeans and a black sweater… Unfortunately, the chances of finding someone in the ocean wearing a black, hooded sweater and treading water is almost impossible,” said MacFadgen. “Life jackets are there for a reason and survival suits are there for a reason. Anything that’s going to help you is going to help us.”
Penny, in his advice to those venturing out to sea, stressed the importance of preparation.
“Knowing what you’re getting into, whether it’s a hiking trip or the fishing industry,” said Penny.
“Your vessel should be maintained, your survival gear — as the Coast Guard would want you to have it — is up-to-date and it is functioning. You’ve done your tests; you’ve done a simulation for if something happened, everybody should be trained to deal with an emergency. You’re prepared for the elements that you’re going to, whether it’s on the sea or going hiking on a mountain.”
