Even is good weather I am not diving from a perfectly good helicopter into the cold Atlantic!
Video from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service shows helicopter crews hoisting a sailor into the air while he sat in a metal rescue basket, wearing a life vest and soaked water gear.
After being secured inside, he stepped out of the rescue equipment and took a seat beside another sailor who had just been rescued.
The aircraft refueled after picking up the survivors and then returned them safely to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City.
One Coast Guard photo showed the five men stepping off the helicopter onto dry land, while another captured them linking arms and smiling in relief after the rescue.
Brandon Flack, owner of Magic Bus Charters, announced on Facebook Thursday night that he and his wife were picking up their son and three friends from Providence Airport - all part of the stranded crew.
He hailed 'the legend' Buster Pike, the fifth man on the sinking ship, for keeping his loved ones 'safe and sound.'
'In the darkest hours this morning, while relaying the Mayday to the Coast Guard and picturing all of them stepping up into a life raft in 40+ winds, 10+ foot seas, nearly 300 miles offshore and in total darkness, I got a text from his wife Heather,' Flack wrote.
Pike’s wife reassured him, saying, 'Buster is the person to have there in a situation like this.'
'I didn’t believe it at first, but somehow I knew they were going to be okay,' Flack wrote. 'A few hours later, the Coast Guard shared that the crew were in good spirits. They had packed extra water and food for an extended rescue.'
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 a drink. Young souls are coming home tonight because he was the person to have there in a situation like this.'
The charter company also took to Facebook to address their boat, now lost deep in the Atlantic Ocean.
'We Lost the Bus, Not the Magic,' the company wrote.
'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, incredibly, everyone made it home safe and sound,' they added.
'We will be back, not to start over but to continue what the Bus began: helping more people experience the beauty, peace, and wild simplicity of life in the Exumas. The boat may be gone, but the magic she shared is very much alive.'
Even is good weather I am not diving from a perfectly good helicopter into the cold Atlantic!
A 3 hour tour.
A 3 hour tour!
“ The aircraft refueled after picking up the survivors and then returned them safely to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth.”
In-flight chopper refueling must require serious skill. Awesome job. I kept thinking about the book The Perfect Storm.
I'm not sure being 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina in a charter boat that size (54 ft. catamaran), at this time of the year, is a very good idea. So I question Buster's critical thinking abilities.....