Helicopter Swoops in for Water Rescue

On Saturday afternoon, a call came in for a boat in distress at Willow Landing Marina, which is on Aquia Creek in eastern Stafford County. Two men were on board. 

A flat-bottom boat had reportedly run aground in the low tide of the creek. That wouldn’t be as much of a problem had it not been for the high winds that were blowing on the sunny, 59-degree day. According to weather.com, the day’s wind speed was around 20 miles per hour, with gusts up to 33mph. The National Weather Service reported wind speed to be 23mph with gusts of 28mph. 

The hard-blowing winds on the water may have complicated matters. 

Mark Doyle, Assistant Chief of the Stafford County Fire & Rescue Department, told Potomac Local News that in low tide, as it was when the boat ran aground, high winds push water out of the creek and hold off the tide. This hindered navigation of the vessel so it couldn’t reach shore.

Attempts to help the two people by water were unsuccessful, so a helicopter was brought in to lift them to safety. 

According to Doyle, fire and rescue crews from Stafford made several attempts to reach the men with different boats, but were unable to access them.

Initial reports indicate that, despite the temperature being in the 50s, hypothermia was a concern. It’s unclear how long they had been out on the water or if they had made a physical attempt to get the boat moving that might have caused them to get wet.

“We felt the safest course of action was to call for a hoist rescue,” said Doyle later in a release.

They requested a helicopter hoist rescue from the U.S. Park Police Aviation Section.  

The two were airlifted one at a time in rescue baskets from the ship between 2:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Both men were evaluated by Stafford County paramedics and, although both were slightly hypothermic, they refused transportation to the hospital.