A U.S. Coast Guard HC-144A, produced by Airbus Military, was the first aircraft to arrived on the scene when four rowers, including Canadian Olympic gold medalist Adam Kreek, capsized 600 km north of Puerto Rico last week. The four had been attempting to row across the Atlantic Ocean in a project for the Canadian Wildlife Federation. The HC-144A Ocean Sentry, known elsewhere as the CN235, was the first to locate the rowers and then provide supplies.
The aircraft is a smaller variant of Airbus Military’s C295, a contender in the Canadian fixed-wing search and rescue replacement program. The CN235 or the C295 are operated by a number of countries including Brazil, Chile, Finland, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United States. In February, the USCG acquired additional HC-144As to increase their fleet from 18 to 36.