A Coast Guard rescue swimmer died Thursday from injuries sustained during a rescue at sea late last month.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Jaggers was a rescue swimmer, a rate known in the service as an Aviation Survival Technician, assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Astoria, Oregon. He suffered “critical injuries,” the Coast Guard said, during the rescue of a crewman on the Momi Arrow, a commercial freighter, 120 miles off the coast of Cape Flattery, Washington.
Jaggers was the rescue swimmer on the crew of a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk sent to the ship to respond to a crewmember suffering from a stroke and in need of medical evacuation.
“Aviation Survival Technician Jaggers represented the very best of our Service and the Aviation Rescue Swimmer community,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, said in a statement. “He demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of danger, upholding the highest standards of courage and excellence for Coast Guard operations. We honor his selfless actions and unwavering devotion to our highest calling: to save others. His family has our deepest condolences and steadfast support, and we continue to honor their privacy during this very difficult time.”
The Coast Guard did not release details on how Jaggers was hurt but rescue swimmers are routinely hoisted onto the deck of merchant ships to treat patients as their helicopters hover above, usually returning up the hoist after the patient is lifted in a steel litter or ‘rescue basket.’
Coast Guard crews train relentlessly on hoisting swimmers in and out of helicopters, and the procedure is fairly routine in the service. But hoists onto a large ship are always particularly fraught with risk. With a swimmer clipped onto the hoist’s extended metal cable, winds and high seas can pull a swimmer many yards wide of a target. Even a momentary error by the pilot or hoist operator can be fatal as a swimmer swings among heavy steel walls, cables, and equipment of most commercial ships.
Top Stories This Week
Jaggers was rushed to Victoria General Hospital in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and then transferred to Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington.
The service said it’s investigating the incident that led to his fatal injuries.
Jaggers joined the Coast Guard in 2022. He had been stationed at Air Station Astoria since 2024. After the rescue mission on Feb. 27, while in the hospital for his injuries, the Coast Guard promoted him to Petty Officer 2nd Class and awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions and “heroism in aerial flight.”
