Three people were rescued from an upturned vessel on Saturday, 14 November 2020, after a 406 PLB was activated by the vessel’s crew west of Garden Island near Sydney, Australia.
AMSA Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra notified the Water Police Coordination Centre of the emergency activation.
Search assets were deployed, including vessels from Water Police and Marine Rescue Fremantle, the RAC Rescue helicopter and a Police Air Wing helicopter.
They can be seen atop the overturned boat being tossed in the waves.
In the video footage of the rescue we can hear the helicopter crew commenting:
“Lucky they had a PLB, I suppose . . .”
“Say, that pays off, doesn’t it?”
The three stranded people swam across to the rescue vessel, where they were safely removed from the water.
“By activating their emergency beacon the vessel’s crew were able to immediately alert authorities to the fact they were in distress, and at the same time provide details of their exact location.”
Read more and see video footage here:
https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/7013209/three-rescued-off-garden-island-video/