KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A mother and son pose in front of the helicopter whose flight crew spirited them to safety after their skiff became stranded in low tide. U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo
A mother-and-son in a hunting party whose skiff ran aground at low tide was rescued over the weekend by a Coast Guard helicopter. Petty Officer Jonathan Lally says the rescue was on Sunday evening after a friend reported the group overdue.
— (rescue 1 :46 "A friend of the four people … a shoreline search from there.")
The MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter found the party at 10:21 p.m. Sunday in Ugak Bay. Because of concern that a 7-year-old child on the skiff was in danger of hypothermia, the boy and his mother, identified as 24-year-old Candice Lotzer were hoisted up and flown back to the Coast Guard Air Station in Kodiak. The two reportedly did not require medical attention.
Lally says it was the party’s good sense to have told a friend in advance that they were going out so that when they did not turn up on time, the friend was able to alert authorities.
— (rescue 2) :21 "Coast Guard likes to remind … worse case scenario."
The Coast Guard reports that the remaining two men on the skiff opted to wait for high tide and returned to Pasagshak Bay about three hours later.
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