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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Robert Lamb, Mike Callahan

Aired January 12, 2003 - 10:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A Bermuda fisherman will have a whale of a survivor story to tell his family when he gets home.
Tossed into the Atlantic Ocean, the man clung 20 hours to a piece of wood and then, fortunately, he was spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard. He's now safe aboard the USNS Comfort, which was on its way to the Gulf region. And he was lucky enough that they just happened to be in the area.

And survivor Robert Lamb is on the telephone with us from the Navy hospital ship the USNS Comfort.

And Robert...

ROBERT LAMB, RESCUED AT SEA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: How are you feeling?

LAMB: Very well, thank you. Very well.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know, congratulations to you for, you know, being able to hang in there all that time. And just in time for the right folks to see you, the Coast Guard, as well as the Comfort.

Explain or take us to the beginning. How was it that you ended up in the Atlantic?

LAMB: Well, we was out looking for a yacht that was abandoned about a month ago. And the fellows had slightly turned back to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and heading for home.

On our way home, developed a transporter (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and it kept getting worse. And on about 6:30 that evening, you know, darkness had fallen. And we hit another big wave and it turned us upside down.

WHITFIELD: And on your 40-foot boot, then, you were accompanied by two others, correct? And you were all capsized and -- but before, I guess, trouble really hit you, you were able to send an alert, to let those notified that your boat was in trouble.

LAMB: No, no. I had a mounted (ph) beacon onboard the boat. And once it's turned upside down, it sends off a beacon automatically.

WHITFIELD: OK, OK.

LAMB: Yes.

WHITFIELD: No, go ahead.

And as a result of that then the Coast Guard was able to pick up on that beacon?

LAMB: Yes, that is correct.

WHITFIELD: And tell me about the conditions while you were clinging to this piece of wood, while fighting these high waves.

LAMB: The conditions were absolutely horrible, actually. You could hear the waves come and they would barrel round, maybe 18, 20 times over and over during the night, they'd come up and try to take your wood back down again or hit me in the head or something like that. So just a lot of hanging on for dear life.

WHITFIELD: Now I want to bring into this equation Mike Callahan, who's in Virginia Beach. He was part of the U.S. Coast Guard rescue mission.

Mike, good to see you.

MIKE CALLAHAN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: Now, you all responded, as Robert was explaining, to the beacon that went off on their boat as it capsized.

Explain to us exactly, you know, what you were able to pick up and how that helped you mobilize into action.

CALLAHAN: We were the secondary craft on scene. The previous aircraft had located the debris.

And as we approached the scene mid-morning on Wednesday, an observer in the back of my aircraft called, "Person in the water, person in the water." We located his position electronically and dropped a smoke flair and proceeded to eventually get a raft to Mr. Lamb.

WHITFIELD: So you got the raft to him, but you weren't able to hoist him up. Sometimes you're able to see that in rescue missions.

How did you assess that you were not able to do that in this case?

CALLAHAN: I was -- the distance off shore was over 600 miles. And we were with a C-130, a fixed wing aircraft. And we didn't have the ability for any hoisting.

But we had, luckily, the navy hospital ship Comfort only -- less than three hours away. And we vectored them in to Mr. Lamb and the raft.

WHITFIELD: Which really was an incredible coincidence. They just happened to get their marching orders to head toward the Persian Gulf region for an impending conflict with Iraq. And it just so happened that you had this emergency situation.

Was that pretty much your first option? You knew about where they were and that this was the best option for you to call them into action?

All right. Looks like we may have lost Mike there temporarily.

Robert, you got the life raft...

LAMB: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... as Mike was explaining. You got their life raft, you were able to hold onto that, but I imagine the water was very cold, the seas were rough.

Did you feel, still, at that point that, you know, you may just not have the strength to hold on? You were worried about how much longer you would have to hold on, I imagine.

LAMB: No. Definitely that was fine. The minute he saw me, I felt relieved. And I knew I had enough strength to climb a ladder, or you know, to do whatever had to be done at that point.

WHITFIELD: All right, Mike. We've got you back now from Virginia Beach there.

Why don't you pick up the story from there? He was able to hold on to the raft. You still had this USNS Comfort about three hours away. What happened next?

CALLAHAN: Well, once we had Mr. Lamb visually safe in the raft and he had the energy to put the canopy up, we knew he was in pretty good condition, remarkable condition, given how long he'd been in the cold water.

We continued our search for the two other occupants of the boat, not knowing their situation. And would periodically fly back to the raft to check on Mr. Lamb.

WHITFIELD: And Robert, then once the Comfort came along, describe for us, if you could, you know, how that rescue effort then carried on.

LAMB: That was very swift and very smooth. And they pulled me alongside of a grappling hook and hoist me up to a little small sea door up towards the bow of the ship. And had a ladder down.

And then the ship rolled, like maybe three attempts there. I think the third attempt, then I could get my hand on a ladder. And they just hoisted me right on up, you know, in a matter of minutes there.

WHITFIELD: And then what kind of treatment did you get on board?

LAMB: They checked all my vital signs, treated me for hypothermia, got me IV. And just got me warmed up. WHITFIELD: And then Robert, quickly, what's next? When do you get a chance to make your way home?

LAMB: I just -- I've got to get home and just sort things out, figure out where I am. I got to talk to the people's -- to my friends' families and my family and everybody like that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, best to you. And we're glad that you made it on board safely. We extend our sympathies, however, as your other two crew mates were unable to be recovered.

And Mike Callahan, we appreciate you for joining us to help paint the picture for us of what took place.

CALLAHAN: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 12, 2003 - 10:20   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A Bermuda fisherman will have a whale of a survivor story to tell his family when he gets home.
Tossed into the Atlantic Ocean, the man clung 20 hours to a piece of wood and then, fortunately, he was spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard. He's now safe aboard the USNS Comfort, which was on its way to the Gulf region. And he was lucky enough that they just happened to be in the area.

And survivor Robert Lamb is on the telephone with us from the Navy hospital ship the USNS Comfort.

And Robert...

ROBERT LAMB, RESCUED AT SEA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: How are you feeling?

LAMB: Very well, thank you. Very well.

WHITFIELD: Well, you know, congratulations to you for, you know, being able to hang in there all that time. And just in time for the right folks to see you, the Coast Guard, as well as the Comfort.

Explain or take us to the beginning. How was it that you ended up in the Atlantic?

LAMB: Well, we was out looking for a yacht that was abandoned about a month ago. And the fellows had slightly turned back to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and heading for home.

On our way home, developed a transporter (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and it kept getting worse. And on about 6:30 that evening, you know, darkness had fallen. And we hit another big wave and it turned us upside down.

WHITFIELD: And on your 40-foot boot, then, you were accompanied by two others, correct? And you were all capsized and -- but before, I guess, trouble really hit you, you were able to send an alert, to let those notified that your boat was in trouble.

LAMB: No, no. I had a mounted (ph) beacon onboard the boat. And once it's turned upside down, it sends off a beacon automatically.

WHITFIELD: OK, OK.

LAMB: Yes.

WHITFIELD: No, go ahead.

And as a result of that then the Coast Guard was able to pick up on that beacon?

LAMB: Yes, that is correct.

WHITFIELD: And tell me about the conditions while you were clinging to this piece of wood, while fighting these high waves.

LAMB: The conditions were absolutely horrible, actually. You could hear the waves come and they would barrel round, maybe 18, 20 times over and over during the night, they'd come up and try to take your wood back down again or hit me in the head or something like that. So just a lot of hanging on for dear life.

WHITFIELD: Now I want to bring into this equation Mike Callahan, who's in Virginia Beach. He was part of the U.S. Coast Guard rescue mission.

Mike, good to see you.

MIKE CALLAHAN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: Now, you all responded, as Robert was explaining, to the beacon that went off on their boat as it capsized.

Explain to us exactly, you know, what you were able to pick up and how that helped you mobilize into action.

CALLAHAN: We were the secondary craft on scene. The previous aircraft had located the debris.

And as we approached the scene mid-morning on Wednesday, an observer in the back of my aircraft called, "Person in the water, person in the water." We located his position electronically and dropped a smoke flair and proceeded to eventually get a raft to Mr. Lamb.

WHITFIELD: So you got the raft to him, but you weren't able to hoist him up. Sometimes you're able to see that in rescue missions.

How did you assess that you were not able to do that in this case?

CALLAHAN: I was -- the distance off shore was over 600 miles. And we were with a C-130, a fixed wing aircraft. And we didn't have the ability for any hoisting.

But we had, luckily, the navy hospital ship Comfort only -- less than three hours away. And we vectored them in to Mr. Lamb and the raft.

WHITFIELD: Which really was an incredible coincidence. They just happened to get their marching orders to head toward the Persian Gulf region for an impending conflict with Iraq. And it just so happened that you had this emergency situation.

Was that pretty much your first option? You knew about where they were and that this was the best option for you to call them into action?

All right. Looks like we may have lost Mike there temporarily.

Robert, you got the life raft...

LAMB: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... as Mike was explaining. You got their life raft, you were able to hold onto that, but I imagine the water was very cold, the seas were rough.

Did you feel, still, at that point that, you know, you may just not have the strength to hold on? You were worried about how much longer you would have to hold on, I imagine.

LAMB: No. Definitely that was fine. The minute he saw me, I felt relieved. And I knew I had enough strength to climb a ladder, or you know, to do whatever had to be done at that point.

WHITFIELD: All right, Mike. We've got you back now from Virginia Beach there.

Why don't you pick up the story from there? He was able to hold on to the raft. You still had this USNS Comfort about three hours away. What happened next?

CALLAHAN: Well, once we had Mr. Lamb visually safe in the raft and he had the energy to put the canopy up, we knew he was in pretty good condition, remarkable condition, given how long he'd been in the cold water.

We continued our search for the two other occupants of the boat, not knowing their situation. And would periodically fly back to the raft to check on Mr. Lamb.

WHITFIELD: And Robert, then once the Comfort came along, describe for us, if you could, you know, how that rescue effort then carried on.

LAMB: That was very swift and very smooth. And they pulled me alongside of a grappling hook and hoist me up to a little small sea door up towards the bow of the ship. And had a ladder down.

And then the ship rolled, like maybe three attempts there. I think the third attempt, then I could get my hand on a ladder. And they just hoisted me right on up, you know, in a matter of minutes there.

WHITFIELD: And then what kind of treatment did you get on board?

LAMB: They checked all my vital signs, treated me for hypothermia, got me IV. And just got me warmed up. WHITFIELD: And then Robert, quickly, what's next? When do you get a chance to make your way home?

LAMB: I just -- I've got to get home and just sort things out, figure out where I am. I got to talk to the people's -- to my friends' families and my family and everybody like that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, best to you. And we're glad that you made it on board safely. We extend our sympathies, however, as your other two crew mates were unable to be recovered.

And Mike Callahan, we appreciate you for joining us to help paint the picture for us of what took place.

CALLAHAN: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com