Over the weekend, the Coast Guard deployed a helicopter crew to save not just the five people and dog who called for help, but also, the original rescue team. According to an announcement, the incident happened after the civilian vessel ran aground during low tide on July 21 near Fripp Island, South Carolina.
In the four-minute video, you see the rescue swimmer dangling from a line as the helicopter hovers above. About a minute in, they fly above two small boats and make contact. Then, the crew lowers a rescue basket and the swimmer preps a survivor, and then the crew begins to reel in people to safety.
What happened to the original rescue team?
In the announcement, officials explained that Charleston's Coast Guard office received a call about 2 p.m. via cell phone about the 23-foot boat that ran aground. In turn, Beaufort County Marine Rescue launched an airboat crew to assist, but once they arrived on the scene, their engine died.
So the Coast Guard deployed an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew to save the five people and a dog aboard the boat as well as the two airboat crew members. Then, they transported them to the Beaufort Executive Airport with no medical concerns. Later, Beaufort County recovered both the airboat and the civilian boat.
In a statement, Lt. Cmdr. Carl Luxhoj, the aircraft commander at the Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, explained that both boats got stuck because of low tides. "Due to the impressive range of tides in the Lowcountry region, we recommend all mariners check tides and currents before going out on the water," Luxhoj said.
The video repeatedly shows the helicopter returning above the boats. In response, Luxhoj said: "Due to the high number of people, this turned out to be a fairly complex evolution that required multiple trips to the vessel in distress." He added: "Our crew did a great job of managing aircraft weight and power margin to conduct the hoists.
