Coast Guard rescues 2 from sinking boat near Wachapreague, Va.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Brown, an engineer at Station Wachapreague, Virginia, gazes at an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter flying over Metompkin Inlet August 2, 2016. The Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, assisted the boat crew in rescuing two people from a 15-foot boat taking on water. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Sanchez/Released)

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Brown, an engineer at Station Wachapreague, Virginia, gazes at an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter flying over Metompkin Inlet August 2, 2016. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Sanchez)

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard rescued two people as their disabled boat began taking on water in Metompkin Inlet near Wachapreague Tuesday.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Hampton Roads received a call forwarded by Eastern Shore of Virginia 911 Dispatch at 10:47 a.m. stating a 15-foot skiff with two people aboard was disabled and taking on water in Metompkin Inlet.

Sector Hampton Roads issued an urgent marine information broadcast at 11:07 a.m. and launched a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water crew from Coast Guard Station Wachapreague at 11:19 a.m. An MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Station Elizabeth City was already in flight in the area and changed course to the sinking boat at 11:18 a.m. Both the SPC-SW boat crew and the Jayhawk helicopter crew arrived on scene around 11:50 a.m.

Upon arriving, the Station Wachapreague crew transferred the two distressed boaters onto the SPC-SW. Both people were wearing life jackets.

The Jayhawk helicopter crew passed a dewatering pump to the SPC-SW crew, who then worked to dewater the sinking boat.

The SPC-SW crew towed the boat back to Station Wachapreague, arriving at 2:36 p.m.

No injuries were reported.

“The spirit of cooperation is how we accomplish things like this,” said Lt. Wryan Webb, a pilot of the Jayhawk crew. “If we have multiple units working together, we are able to give a more complete response during a mission.”


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