Flare aids rescue of siblings after boat sinks
21/09/2020
A flare pinpointed the position of siblings after their boat sank off the Bay of Plenty coast, New Zealand.
The brother and sister took to a liferaft after their 29-foot launch sank near Mayor Island. They used an EPIRB to alert emergency services.
When they spotted a TECT Rescue Helicopter overhead, they fired the flare to indicate their position.
Also called out was Coastguard New Zealand’s new rescue boat, the Trillian Trust Rescue, which was on its maiden voyage.
A NZ Defence Force King Air provided air support and tracked the liferaft until Trillian Trust Rescue arrived in the area and took the siblings on board.
Emergency personnel praised the pair for being well-prepared, according to https://www.facebook.com/coastguardnewz/.
A spokesperson says, “The two boaties did everything right, including wearing lifejackets, having an EPIRB and setting off a flare — as you can see from the photo, finding them in the expanse of ocean wouldn’t have been easy otherwise.”
The photo of the Trillian Trust Rescue is courtesy of the Facebook page.
