Four people were rescued after their boat broke down in the Beagle Gulf yesterday.
The two men and two teenage boys set off an emergency beacon when their 5m runabout would not start about 50 km north east of Darwin yesterday.
CareFlight director lan Badham said the beacon alerted them to the boat's position at sea, off Glyde Point, south-east of Vernon Islands. The search began soon after midday. Using their helicopter's radio homing equipment, the chopper crew of pilot John Beasy, aircrewman Mark Donovan and flight nurse Amanda Quinn located the boat at anchor 1 km off Leaders Creek. "They winched a portable radio to the boat, which allowed the occupants to say that all were well but had activated the EPIRB to prevent a dangerous situation from developing in Beagle Gulf,” Mr Badham said. Reports of crocodiles in the water made swimming to safety inadvisable.
CareFlight confirmed the boat's position then guided a police boat to tow the four back to safety at Leader’s Creek. The four had been fishing.
Mr Badham praised the boat passengers for having a new-generation 406 MHz EPIRB and activating it in time for the search and rescue mission to be conducted during daylight hours.
Cospas - Sarsat