Editing Search and rescue (section)

==History==
{{expand section|date = November 2010}}
One of the world's earliest well-documented SAR efforts ensued following the 1656 wreck of the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] merchant ship ''[[Vergulde Draeck]]'' off the west coast of [[Australia]].  Survivors sought help, and in response three separate SAR missions were conducted, without success.<ref>Major, R. H. (editor) (1859) ''Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia'', The Hakluyt Society, London (2001 facsimile edition on Google Books)</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2021}}

On 29 November 1945, a Sikorsky R-5 performed the first civilian helicopter rescue operation in history, with Sikorsky's chief pilot Dmitry "Jimmy" Viner in the cockpit, using an experimental hoist developed jointly by [[Sikorsky Aircraft|Sikorsky]] and [[Breeze-Eastern|Breeze]].  All five crew members of an oil barge, which had run aground on [[Penfield Reef]], were saved before the barge sank.<ref>Chen, C. Peter (editor), [http://ww2db.com/today/11/29/1945 World War II Database] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081334/http://ww2db.com/today/11/29/1945 |date=4 March 2016 }}, retrieved 8 July 2015</ref>

In 1983, [[Korean Air Lines Flight 007]] with 269 occupants was shot down by a Soviet aircraft near [[Sakhalin Island|Sakhalin]]. The Soviets sent SAR helicopters and boats to Soviet waters, while a search and rescue operation was initiated by U.S., South Korean, and Japanese ships and aircraft in international waters, but no survivors were found.<ref>
Rear Admiral Walter T. Piotti (Photo [7]), Commander of Task Force 71 of U.S. 7th Fleet, stated in his After Action Report (Department of the Navy, Commander, Surface Combat Force Seventh Fleet. CTF75/N32:kpm,4730, Ser 011, 15 November 1983)</ref>

In July 2009, [[Air France Flight 447]] was lost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  An international SAR effort was launched, to no avail.  A third effort nearly two years later discovered the crash site and recovered the [[flight recorder]]s.

In early 2014, [[Malaysia Airlines Flight 370]] crashed under mysterious circumstances.  Many nations contributed to the initial SAR effort, which was fruitless.  In June 2014, the [[Australian Transport Safety Bureau]] commissioned the MV ''[[Fugro]] Equator'' to lead a three-month survey of the ocean bed. {{As of|2014}}, the search for Flight 370 had become the largest SAR to date.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/03/17/290890377/search-for-flight-mh370-reportedly-largest-in-history:|title=Search For Flight MH370 Reportedly Largest In History|date=17 March 2014|work=NPR.org|access-date=26 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/22/Missing-MH370-search-largest-in-history/|title=Missing MH370: Search is one of the biggest in history, says Hisham - Nation &#124; The Star Online|date=22 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322211512/http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/22/Missing-MH370-search-largest-in-history/|archive-date=22 March 2014}}</ref>