I didn't see this back when it happened, but what a bunch of BS. The Coast Guard cannot conduct a search because people are shining lasers on the search helicopter from shore!!!!

Lasers wreaked havoc on search for missing boaters

By Brad Dickerson and Todd Garvin MYRTLE BEACH --

Two men overcame punishing seas Thursday night by tying themselves together and swimming about four miles to land, although their quest to stay alive was almost foiled by laser-happy onlookers on shore that hampered Coast Guard rescue efforts.

Guiseppe Chillico, 49, of Myrtle Beach, had decided to take friend Keith Crook, 50, visiting from Beckley, W.Va., out for a quick sail on a 19-foot catamaran despite unfavorable seas because Crook only had a short time left during his stay. Crook fell off the vessel while the pair were about four miles from shore and Chillico’s weight alone was not enough to keep the wind from toppling the boat when Chillico turned to retrieve his friend.
Alone and pounded by waves, there were only two options: swim or wait.

The U.S. Coast Guard helicopter was grounded again Wednesday while searching for the source of three orange flares in Garden City Beach when a green laser temporarily blinded the aircrew, according to Jessica Potter, petty officer third class.

Two boaters were reunited with relieved family members Thursday night hours after their catamaran flipped and washed ashore on the beach in the Town of Briarcliffe Acres.

The widespread use of green laser toys by party-goers along Myrtle Beach piers and beaches is disrupting Coast Guard rescue efforts and endangering helicopter crews. If the Coast Guard is going to continue rescue operations along Myrtle Beach shores, the reckless behavior of shining green lasers at our helicopters must stop. “We made an active decision to save ourselves,” Chillico said. “Otherwise it was sit out there all night, and we didn’t want to do that. The current was taking us to North Carolina.”

The two friends wound up tying themselves together for the journey when the waves kept separating them, trying to take advantage of the precious minutes they had left of daylight. Headway toward shore was hard to come by with the cross-current and waves, which often blocked the sight of shore.

“The lowest point was when the sun went down,” Chillico said. “Especially with the waves tumbling us and splitting us apart. It was just like being in a washing machine.”

The men’s spirits were buoyed when they began to see lights from a helicopter and boat searching for them, as well as some shining from the beach. At one point, Chillico – a co-owner of Bourbon Street Bar and Grill in Myrtle Beach – said a small craft passed close enough that the men thought they would be heard, but their shouts were to no avail.

The pair eventually made it to shore and were able to flag down a vehicle involved in the search. “It looked like everyone had stopped looking but we finally heard the breakers,” Chillico said.

“That was the longest daggone swim of my life, I have to tell you that. “All’s well that ends well, but I feel very fortunate.”
At some point during that swim, Chillico said the light from the helicopter passed directly on them, but no one on the aircraft saw them in the water. Eventually, the light and the helicopter were completely gone.
“That was very depressing when we saw [the helicopter] leave,” he said, thinking it had gone to refuel. The helicopter scouring the surf for the missing men had to abandon efforts when people on the beach began shining laser pointers at the aircraft, according to Petty Officer Christopher McDonald with the Coast Guard base in Charleston. The search had to be suspended until the problem was taken care of because laser pointers can damage the eyes of the pilot, who is wearing night vision goggles, McDonald said. Police attempted to find those with the laser pointers, but were unsuccessful.

Cmdr. Greg Fuller, with the U.S. Coast Guard air station in Savannah, Ga., said the pilot had indirect contact with the lasers.
The helicopter was forced to land and the rescuers had to get clearance over the phone before they could resume the search.
If there had been direct contact with the laser, the pilot would need to be cleared by a medical professional before resuming flight, Fuller said.
Once the helicopter was back in the air, the pilot was hit a second time by a green laser, Fuller said and was forced to land again.
Before it could be cleared to fly again, Chillico and Crook had made it to shore.
“It’s definitely gone to epidemic proportions,” Fuller said of laser strikes.

Read more here: MYRTLE BEACH - Lasers wreaked havoc on search for missing boaters - Crime and Courts - MyrtleBeachOnline.com