Heart-stopping footage captured the moment a Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued four people stranded on a broken-down yacht in rough seas and pitch darkness off the coast of Long Island.
Coast Guard crews received a report around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday that the 42-foot “Proudfoot” vessel had become disabled and was left rocking in 12-foot waves roughly three miles southwest of Moriches Inlet in Suffolk County, according to the US Coast Guard.
Local police and first responders were unable to rescue the four people aboard the motor yacht due to the hazardous weather conditions, authorities said.
Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound watchstanders also launched a boat crew from Shinnecock to complete the rescue, but they were forced to return to their station over the “degrading sea state.”
An MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from the Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod was then deployed and flew to the scene at 8:30 p.m. to airlift the stranded boaters, officials said.
Harrowing footage released by the Coast Guard captured the helicopter team lowering a metal basket to retrieve the two men and two women aboard the boat and lift them to safety in complete darkness.
By 9:42 p.m., all four people were hoisted out of the visibly rocking vessel and transported to Gabreski Airport, where emergency medical services were waiting.
No injuries were reported during the nail-biting rescue.
The group’s boat washed ashore at Democrat Point in Fire Island on Sunday morning. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and local police reported that the vessel remained intact.
“The challenging nature of this rescue underscored the importance of reliable forms of communication and required safety equipment, including life jackets,” Coast Guard Lt. Jonathan Roth, a member at Sector Long Island Sound, said in a statement.
“These are instrumental in getting the mariner to safety and are a must-have on any voyage, any time of year, and in all weather,” Roth added.