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Rotary Wing

History

The Coast Guard had been well ahead of the other services in recognizing the usefulness of the helicopter. After the war, the Service continued to pursue new uses for the new machines. In 1944, the Service evaluated the Sikorsky HOS-1. After the war, it ordered 27 of them, which served from both land and icebreakers …

Search and Rescue

The Coast Guard lost no time in proving the helicopter’s worth in the business of saving lives. The HOS-1G is best known in Coast Guard history as having been instrumental in the “Miracle at Gander” rescue. A Sabena Airlines DC-4 passenger aircraft crashed into a hillside 20 miles southeast of Gander, Newfoundland, on Wednesday, 18 …