A Coast Guard Jayhawk rescue helicopter from Air Station Sitka participates in a training exercise. (USCG Photo taken by Petty Officer 3rd Class Wes Shinn)
For the second time this summer, the Coast Guard conducted a search in Haines that was triggered by what appeared to be a false alarm.
Petty Officer Jon-Paul Rios said an emergency beacon distress signal initiated a search around noon Monday.
A Coast guard helicopter and boat responded. They were assisted by the Haines harbormaster and a good Samaritan vessel.
Around 6 p.m., searchers located the beacon in what Rios described as a “junkyard.” He did not have more information about where the junkyard was located.
The Coast Guard also found that the boat the beacon was registered with was safely stored at a dry dock in Wrangell.
This isn’t the first time this summer an emergency beacon prompted a fruitless Coast Guard search in Haines. In late July, a helicopter searched more than five hours for a distress signal that was never located.
Rios says it’s not uncommon for the beacons to be inadvertently triggered.
