Thoughts: We hope this is a hoax.

[source: Mr. Wookie's squadron's CMC-operated Facebook page]

If you're familiar with this blog, you know we're attached to the aviation community. And if you're familiar with the nerd-based aviation community, you know the above image is of a E-2 Hawkeye - the Navy's Early Air Warning plane capable of locating enemy surface vessels, sub-surface vessels, whales, and (when needed) stranded boaters on life rafts.

As I may know more than the news outlets do, and that knowledge may or may not technically allowed, I know it was a semi-somber night last night as the search was called off, the flight crew de-briefed, and the little light at the end of tunnel of finding them grew dim. Mr. Wookie needed a Scotch on the rocks. Only idiots are supposed to die when they do something stupid; not kids. So with the above story that the SOS call may be a hoax - we can only hope.

But at the end of the day, Mr. Wookie did his job and if there was a boat - he would have found it. But there wasn't a boat. Per the news reports, there was only supposed to be a life ring and a cooler...that's it. 4 people clinging for life...attached to a cooler...and a life ring.

Mr. Wookie did find 2 whales - but that was it.

So we can only hope that the rescue call was a hoax, and the worse thing about it is the individual responsibility has deep pockets to pay back the high coasts of search and rescue missions. Because now we know the feelings of what it's like for search and rescue to not find those in need - it stinks.