An 8-year-old male passenger was medically evacuated from the cruise ship Royal Princess by a Coast Guard helicopter aircrew ~20 miles (32 km) west of Eureka CA on Tuesday, September 24th.
The operation was initiated after Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay received notification at ~07:00 a.m. from Sector Columbia River. The message relayed a request from the Royal Princess reporting that the young passenger had been diagnosed with appendicitis and required immediate evacuation.
At ~08:00 a.m., an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew was dispatched. Upon reaching the vessel, the aircrew successfully hoisted the boy and his family from the ship.
The Princess' passengers were safely transported to emergency medical services at Saint Joseph Hospital in Eureka, with the helicopter landing ~09:40 a.m.
At the time of the accident, the ship was on a 7-day, one-way voyage from Vancouver BC to Los Angeles CA. The itinerary started on September 21st and ends on September 28th.
For more Royal Princess incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.