U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations air crew responded to a call about distressed occupants on a disabled 20-foot panga-style fishing vessel hundreds of miles off the coast of Ecuador. The P-3 Long Range Tracker crew consisted of AMO personnel and three of their counterparts from the counter-narcotics forces of the Government of Ecuador.
After the location of the three panga occupants was established, an Ecuadorian aircrew member exchanged radio communications in Spanish with the captain of a nearby fishing vessel and translated all communications into English for the AMO aircrew and U.S. Coast Guard counterparts.
The P-3 LRT aircrew guided the fishing vessel to the location of the distressed panga where they rescued the occupants. Interviews revealed the individuals had been adrift at sea for at least two weeks due to a malfunctioning motor.
