The U.S. Coast Guard helicopter base in Newport – known as Yaquina Bay – has won a reprieve from Congress and will remain open for a further 12 months.  Democratic members from Oregon have announced that they were able to attach a provision to the Coast Guard authorization bill, effectively requiring them to keep the base open to at least 1st January 2016.  Yaquina Bay had been earmarked for closure to save a reported $6M a year, with US Coast Guard sources saying they could meet their SAR requirements from others bases at Astoria and North Bend, but with longer response times.

A recent high-profile rescue of fisherman from a sinking crabbing boat Blazer no doubt helped the campaign, while the Oregonian newspaper noted that the Blazer rescue was only the “second major ocean rescue near Newport this fall”

Jeremy Parkin – HeliHub.com