AIS used to vector fishing vessel in rescue attempt

AIS was used by the Coast Guard in the rescue attempt yesterday after two F-15C’s collided over the Gulf of Mexico today. This pilot was recovered, but unfortunately did not survive.

From http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/jetcrash/index.html:

Capt. Jim McPherson of the Coast Guard told CNN the crew of a Coast Guard aircraft on a training mission spotted a parachute dropping into the Gulf Wednesday afternoon.

The crew used radar and an automated identification system to detect a fishing boat in the area and directed that boat to the area where the parachute landed.

SkunkTracker 0.9 posted: AIS for Mac OS X

I have just posted SkunkTracker prerelease version 0.9 at http://www.mobilegeographics.com/skunktracker/.

I’m fairly pleased with the search capabilities. Right now I’m working on making the launch and the graphics faster, and on improving the graphic “fit and finish” and basic workflow.

There’s a sometimes live map of Seattle area shipping, produced by the KML export feature of SkunkTracker, at http://www.mobilegeographics.com/skunktracker/seattle.html.

Let me extend special gratitude to all of my classmates at Big Nerd Ranch, the gang at Seattle Xcoders, and especially Aaron Hillegass and Rocco Bowling, for helping me get this far.