Rescue System Test:  Operation Causeway Drop

     In order to test the reliability of our rescue system, we needed to observe how well the rescue dye and automatic lifejacket work. The simplest test of the rescue dye was performed by simply filling two adjacent sinks with water and dropping a small piece of dye in one of them. The vibrant results are shown here.

     However, this dye test was very small-scale. How could we simulate a similar condition the our assistance would experience during their rescue attempt?  There is the possibility that boats and/or aircraft could be deployed, so we needed to view our next test from the water and air.  There was one surefire place to get our desired results—the Melbourne Causeway.

     After calling various city water management and environmental offices, as well as the airport (who would be listening to any pilots flying overhead), we determined there was no “official” permission required to perform this test, since the dye is biodegradable and non-toxic. The river is public property, and so it was acceptable for our test.

     Andy and Kyra prepared the equipment the night before the test, by placing all the dye powder in a zip-lock bag, into which we punched many holes to allow the dye to escape in the water but keep the source near the lifejacket. Both systems were then attached to the same parachute used in Putty Launch 1 and 2. The next morning, Maddie secured a motorboat from her crew coach, and, accompanied by Emanuel, headed out to the Causeway, at the top of which Andy and Kyra made the final preparations for the drop.

     First, we secured a safety line to the life jacket, in the event it were to get caught on something or if the jacket failed to inflate. This line was dropped down to Emanuel on the boat.  Once they had the line secured, the jacket, dye, and parachute were thrown over the side of the Causeway! The parachute opened easily and carried the equipment gently down to the water.  A few seconds after splashing down, the lifejacket inflated as planned, and the dye almost immediately began spreading its fluorescent green into the water. See the image included here for a view from the air (technically, from the Causeway) of the lifevest and spreading dye. The dye powder completely dissolved out in approximately 30 minutes, but the dye already mixed with the water lingered for longer.

     This test was a complete success, and we feel extremely confident the deployed assitance will be able to locate the dart using these systems!

To view a complete video of the process of JAMSTAR’s Operation Causeway Drop, right click on this link and “Save Target As...”.  (Warning: 9.4MB file! .wmv format)