The Royal Norwegian Air Force’s 330 Squadron was choosing between two possible routes for a planned training flight.
One minute after their training flight route was chosen, they received a call from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
They were told about an emergency signal received from a 406 distress beacon activated nearby.
The pilots arrived within five minutes.
They found the fishing boat sticking about a metre above the water amid heavy waves and strong winds.
The fisherman stuck on the bow was winched up to the helicopter and told the rescuers that his colleague was in the sea.
About 300m from the vessel, they found the man barely managing to swim.
He was dressed in oilskins and boots and hadn’t had time to put a life jacket on because the accident had happened so quickly.
The squadron head said they would have taken an hour had the helicopter been stationed at its base in Lakselv as normal.
Mr Norderval said: “That was probably the decisive factor in one of them surviving.”
The immediate alert of the 406 beacon “allowed our rescue coordinators in Bodø – who received the signal via a satellite network we are part of – to quickly contact the rescue helicopter, enabling them to locate and hoist the two men to safety.”
Read more and see video footage here:
https://needtoknow.co.uk/2025/02/04/fisherman-survives-by-clinging-to-bow-as-boat-sinks-in-freezing-waters/