THOMASTON — The United States Coast Guard responded to a mayday call in the Thomaston area today that it now says appears to be have been a hoax.
Kenneth Stewart, a civilian search and rescue specialist with the Coast Guard base in South Portland, said a Falcon jet from Cape Cod spent about an hour seaching the ocean and islands off the fishing communities of Thomaston and St. George after the Coast Guard received a distress call from a man about 1:40 p.m. today.
Stewart said the caller did not describe the nature of the distress call. All the caller said was ‘mayday, mayday, help, help’ before the transmission broke off. A state ferry out of Rockland also heard the call.
Stewart said the Coast Guard must take all calls for help seriously. The Falcon jet searched a 155-square-mile area before it was recalled to Cape Cod.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.