Four Canadian sailors were plucked from an overturned catamaran by members of the U.S. Coast Guard in a daring helicopter rescue caught on camera.
The Moon Dragon, a 60-foot charter yacht that sails between the Mid-Atlantic and Virgin Islands, capsized about 140 feet offshore from Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday afternoon, per the agency.
None of the extracted passengers were injured, the agency said a day after the incident.
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"The catamaran crew indicated that while at sea, both their port and starboard side hatches broke, leading to catastrophic flooding, which forced them to abandon ship around noon," read an agency press release detailing the evacuation.
The survivors in the boat were able to radio the overhead crew with still-functional equipment after the teams spotted their vessel and covered life raft, per the release.
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A Coast Guard helicopter and airplane from Air Station Elizabeth City crew raced to the scene after they got an electronic position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) from the sailors on the catamaran, the agency wrote. Functional life vests onboard also contributed to their quick rescue.
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"These sailors had the right gear on board, it worked, they knew how to use it, and it’s because of that we were able to find them and bring them home safely," operations cruiser Austin Lang said in the press release.
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Although the sailors were extracted, their vessel reportedly remains in the water, floating upside down, and is a hazard for other boaters in the area.
The Coast Guard responded to 19,790 search and rescue cases last year and saved 3,560 lives, per an agency fact sheet.
