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Coast Guard rescues jetboaters stuck in ice

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew conducts inland search and rescue and mountain landing training in Kodiak, Alaska, Nov. 21, 2018. (Photo by Lt. Jeff Mistrick)
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew conducts inland search and rescue and mountain landing training in Kodiak, Alaska, Nov. 21, 2018. (Photo by Lt. Jeff Mistrick)

Three jet boaters who were stuck in a foot of ice were rescued Sunday by the Coast Guard.

An Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescued the boaters, who were stuck five miles northeast of Hole in the Wall Glacier on the Taku River, at 8 p.m. The boaters were hoisted from their boats and transported to Juneau Airport.

Watchstanders in the sector Juneau command center received a call from the operator of good Samaritan vessel Nantucket, who reported the vessels stuck in ice around 5 p.m. An additional call from one of the boaters’ spouses alerted the watchstanders that the boaters were overdue.

Watchstanders directed a 45-foot response boat crew from Station Juneau to Taku Inlet to relay communications and support the helicopter rescue.