Dramatic moment Coast Guard rushes to rescue stranded sailors as boat sinks hundreds of miles off coast
The U.S. Coast Guard dramatically pulled five sailors to safety after their boat sank in choppy waters hundreds of miles off the coast of North Carolina.
Five men aboard the ‘Magic Bus’ sailboat put out a call for help on Thursday after their boat began to sink.
The North Carolina Command Center responded to the group approximately 260 nautical miles off Cape Hatteras as the sailors abandoned their boats.
Cutter Angela McShan (WPC 1135), along with an HC-130 Hercules aircraft and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, deployed from Elizabeth City Air Station as part of the mission.
Photos released by the Coast Guard show a Jayhawk helicopter flying over stormy Atlantic waters, flanked by a small orange raft being tossed around by waves and wind.
In another photo, the white sailboat, nearly swallowed by the sea, can be seen leaning sideways, with only its mast sticking out.
The HC-130 Hercules from Elizabeth City Air Station found the raft with all five crew members and confirmed they were ‘safe and well’, the agency reported.
Because the rescue was offshore, the Coast Guard called on the USS George H.W. Bush to supply additional fuel that would allow the helicopter to maintain range for offshore operation.
Five sailors (pictured) were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday hundreds of miles off the coast of North Carolina, specifically about 260 nautical miles off Cape Hatteras.
The crew aboard the sailboat ‘Magic Bus’ made a distress call to sentries at the North Carolina Sector Command Center (pictured) after their boat began to sink, forcing them to take shelter in a life raft
Photos released by the Coast Guard show a Jayhawk helicopter flying over stormy Atlantic waters and a small orange raft tossed by waves and wind nearby (pictured)
Video from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service shows the helicopter crew lifting into the air a sailor wearing a life jacket and wet-water gear who was sitting in a metal rescue basket (pictured)
Moments later the helicopter crew lifted all five men to safety and confirmed they were in ‘good health’, and the entire rescue was captured on video.
Video from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service shows the helicopter crew hoisting a sailor into the air, wearing a life jacket and wet-water gear, sitting in a metal rescue basket.
Once secured inside, he exited the rescue equipment and sat next to another newly rescued sailor.
After picking up the survivors, the aircraft refueled and returned them safely to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.
One Coast Guard photo captured the five men disembarking from the helicopter, while another captured them with their arms crossed and smiling relaxedly after the rescue.
Brandon Flack, owner of Magic Bus Charters, said: Facebook On Thursday night, he and his wife were picking up their son and three friends, who were part of the stranded crew, from Providence Airport.
He praised the ‘legend’ Buster Pike, the fifth man on the sinking ship, for keeping his loved ones ‘safe and sound’.
“In the darkest hours of this morning, as I was relaying Mayday to the Coast Guard and imagining them all stepping onto a lifeboat in 40-plus winds, 10-plus foot seas, nearly 300 miles offshore and pitch black, I received a text from his wife, Heather,” Flack wrote.
After picking up the survivors (pictured), the aircraft refueled and returned them safely to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.
A Coast Guard photo shows five men disembarking from the helicopter after the rescue (pictured)
Brandon Flack (pictured), owner of Magic Bus Charters, announced that he and his wife would pick up their son and three friends, who were part of the stranded crew, from Providence Airport and thanked the agency.
The rental company used Facebook to thank the “teamwork of the crew and the heroic efforts of the US Coast Guard and US Navy” who ensured everyone “returned home safely” (pictured: rescue)
Pike’s wife assured him, ‘Buster is the one to be there in a situation like this.’
“I didn’t believe it at first, but I knew they would work out somehow,” Flack wrote. ‘A few hours later, the Coast Guard shared that the crew’s morale was good. ‘They had prepared extra water and food for a longer rescue operation.’
It goes without saying that the US Coast Guard is the best in the world at this. “Buster doing his job made it possible for them to do theirs,” he added.
‘God bless the Coast Guard, and next time you see Buster Pike, don’t let him buy him a drink. Young souls are coming home tonight because he’s the one who needed to be there in a situation like this.’
The charter company also bought Facebook To appeal to their boats lost in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
“We Lost the Bus, Not the Magic,” the company wrote.
‘Amazingly, thanks to the calm and quick thinking of our lifelong friend Buster Pike, the steady teamwork of the crew, and the heroic efforts of the US Coast Guard and US Navy, everyone arrived home safely,’ they added.
‘We’ll be back, not to start over, but to continue what The Bus started: helping more people experience the beauty, peace, and wild simplicity of life in the Exumas. The boat may be gone, but the magic it shared is very much alive.’
