Hoax mayday call.

[VINMAN]

I'm raging over this! They need to find this lowlife scumbag!

This happened here in NJ yesterday. he put hundreds of people in danger, and tied up a huge amount of emergency rescue assests.

Audio Released Of Hoax Yacht Call, Reward Offered By Coast Guard [AUDIO/VIDEO]

By: Dan Alexander | 1 hour ago The U.S. Coast Guard has released audio of the call made about a boat in distress east of Sandy Hook.






A $3,000 reward is being offered for the prosecution of the person who made a false distress call about a motor yacht exploding east of Sandy Hook as they reveal receiving a second call from the “wreckage.”


Ambulance crews waiting in Sandy Hook (WNBC TV)
“We’re taking this potential hoax very seriously,” Capt. Gregory P. Hitchen of the Coast Guard said at a Tuesday news conference.

PREVIOUS: Yacht Reportedly Explodes Off Sandy Hook

Authorities received a “convincing” call from a vessel identifying itself as the Blind Date on Monday afternoon. The caller reported the boat was 17 nautical miles east of Sandy Hook and had 21 people aboard and seven people were injured.

As the rescue was underway, the Coast Guard received a second call reporting three people dead aboard the boat and that several people had second- and third-degree burns in the accident.

A 4 HOUR, $88,000 SEARCH
The four hour search, covering 638 nautical miles, came at a cost of $88,000 and included response units from New York City Police Department, Fire Department of New York City, New Jersey State Police and Nassau County Police. A Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon jet and an MH-60T helicopter launched from Cape Cod also assisted in the search.

Hitchen said the hoax call came from a radio line that points across New Jersey and southern New York, including Staten Island. The call did not come from the water.

The call came in over radio and was only picked up by one antenna, making exact triangulation of the call’s origin impossible. They also say the call came in over a Coast Guard channel, but not the channel used for emergency transmissions.

The caller is described as cool and collected, giving detail about injuries and the state of the ship according to WABC TV. The incident was determined the scenario to be a hoax around 10PM Monday night though they had suspicions only two hours after receiving the call.

Making a false distress call is a federal felony with a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of performing the search.

In addition to being a federal crime, false distress calls waste tax payer dollars, put Coast Guard and other first responders at unnecessary risk and can interfere with the Coast Guard’s ability to respond to actual distress at sea

[flipper35]

I would take the caller out to the approximate location he said he was in his hoax call and drop him off.

[Seahawk]

It is odd that I saw this on the news this morning and wondered if you responded.

The interwebs are amazing.

Hope all is well.

[daepp]

Not to be too conspiratorial, but could this have been a diversion?

[Jim Bremner]

Originally Posted by DAEpperson

Not to be too conspiratorial, but could this have been a diversion?

get all resources to X while you run drugs/illegals into Y? Nah!!!!!!

[bmcuscgr94]

Like Flipper35 said.

Man overboard drill in deep water after dark and forget he's there, let's see him how he'd do with that. Better yet, have someone who was in real trouble who had to wait becuase of a hoax teach him a lesson.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

It is odd that I saw this on the news this morning and wondered if you responded.

The interwebs are amazing.

Hope all is well.

Thanks Paul. No, didnt get deployed for this incident. They used a ton of aviation assests though. USCG, state police, county medevac, NYPD aviation units. Not to mention the amount of water based assets.
Soon as I heard the radio recording , I said something didnt seem right. The caller was WAAAY too calm. Also the information, and the sequence in which he was giving it didnt sound right

[Oh Haha]

I thought about you when I heard this as well, Vinnie. I'm glad all personnel made it back safe.

I hope they find the POS that made the call.

[DARISC]

Vinny - Not having been able to triangulate on the signal, what are the odds they'll ever catch the ass hole?

[TimT]

About 15 years ago I was surf fishing at Gilgo when a medium sized boat started drifting towards the beach, a few guys on board surf was not to bad, but enough to beat a boat to hell if it got beached.

It was dusk and just about enough light out that I could tell the boat was brand new, was not fitted out... no antennas, no outriggers, no glows from loran or depth recorders..

Apparently they lost power and didn't have a clue what to do, my brother and I tried to shout to them to just toss the anchor in and have it on as short a scope that would hold.. Apparently they couldn't hear us over the sound of the surf..

I called Fire Island Coast Guard station, and told them about a boat in distress...and was able to give the CG GPS coordinates to the boat in distress.... The operator was very skeptical inre my my call... I re-iterated that the boat was not under power and the boat operator did not know what he was doing... CG said they would dispatch an Avon.

About 5 minutes after I hung up, got a return call from the CG asking for my full name..

So I told them ( they never asked for my name in the initial call)....

about 10 minutes later an Avon showed up.... and towed the boat out of the breakers...

The Coasties gave my bro and I a nod and a salute, the guys on the boat did everything they could to avoid contact with us, and we never heard another thing about the incident...

Saved these *******s $100K boat and not even a thanks... Would make the call again in a second though...

oops rambling...

I think the ******* who called in the prank will be nailed...and he should be prosecuted to the full yada yada yada,

And be made to repay the cost of the search and rescue etc.

[TimT]

Part of the transcript of the distress call that the media released.. I don't have the full quote..

"I'm the only one left on the boat there are 20 in the water, I'm standing in 3 feet of water on the bridge"

Ya think that would be an aha moment right there

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by DARISC

Vinny - Not having been able to triangulate on the signal, what are the odds they'll ever catch the ass hole?

Honestly , I think the only way they will get him is if someone who knows about it drops dime on him.

[VINMAN]

The Coast Guard's cost alone is up to $320,000. Seems they picked up the call on VHF channel 14 at the Alpine NJ antenna and the Highlands NJ antenna placing the origination somewhere in the Northern NJ NYC area

[SoCal911T]

Two weeks ago a guy here in San Diego was sentenced to a year in prison for the same thing. I think he got off too easy.

Man gets prison term for fake distress calls | UTSanDiego.com

[slakjaw]

I do not understand why someone would do something like this.