Princess Cruise Line is to be commended for its handling of a passenger who became ill aboard the Dawn Princess, which was traveling along the Baja, Mexico coast. Laura Montero, 14 of Ilinois, suffered a ruptured appendix. The captain sent out a distressed signal and the Navy's nuclear carrier, the Ronald Reagan, answered the call.

The carrier was on a training exercise about 500 miles from the ship and immediately changed course. When the carrier was about 175 miles from the cruise ship a helicopter with a medic was sent to retrieved Laura. The captain of the Dawn Princess had to perform some complex maneuvers to position his ship for the helicopter rescue. Once aboard the Reagan, Laura underwent an appendectomy, which was performed by Cmdr. George Linville.

The Dawn Princess returned to port on Sunday and the Reagan moored at Naval Air Station North Island on Tuesday. Laura was taken by ambulance to a hospital for a check-up before heading home. The Navy and the captain of the Dawn Princess are to be congratulated for their adept handling of this crisis.