ABOVE: ISTOCK/POBYTOV; ALL OTHER IMAGES COURTESY CHRIS BAUR


First Person The Salvador Allende Rescue


By Thomas McKenzie


Surrounded by debris, 850 miles from land, a merchant mariner floats and waits.


I 32 ROTOR MARCH 2021


N DECEMBER 1994, AFTER YEARS SPENT FLYING first for the US Army and then the US Coast Guard (USCG), Chris Baur was working as a criminal inves- tigator for the US Customs Service (now US Customs and Border Protection). His experience as a dual-rated


pilot proved useful in his work in covert operations targeting criminal cartels. He played different roles, sometimes selling aircraft, brokering the movement of narcotics, or uncovering financial fraud. But he was also Capt. Baur of the US Air Force New York


Air National Guard, so when he had a few free days that December, he went to Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base on Long Island, New York, to fly some night-vision goggle work in the HH-60. Little did he know he’d end up taking part in a historic mission that would test the limits of man and machine in one of the longest rescue operations ever recorded.


The Salvador Allende On the afternoon of Tursday, Dec. 8, shortly after landing


at the base, Baur was approached by the supervisor of flying. “Hey, I’ve got the Coast Guard on the phone. You guys speak the same language; why don’t you talk to him?” Te voice on the phone, that of a chief Baur knew from


District One, the USCG’s mid-Atlantic region, relayed grim details: the Ukrainian-flagged Salvador Allende, a cargo carrier with a Merchant Marine crew of 33, was transiting from Freeport, Texas, to Helsinki, Finland, with a load of rice. Heavy seas had caused a critical shift in its cargo, desta- bilizing the vessel. With a 45-degree list to port, the deck awash in waves and taking progressively larger rolls, the Allende’s captain gave the order to abandon ship and began transmitting an SOS. Rescuers received the first distress calls at 9:30 pm. By early next morning, the ship had sunk. Te Allende’s last known position was about 850 miles


southeast of Nova Scotia. Te Coast Guard had launched a rescue mission, but those ships were still too far away. “We don’t really have anything that can reach it,” finished


the chief. “But you guys can refuel in flight.” Meaning: you have the range to reach this vessel.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92