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Burnham
Hovercraft Home Page > Burnham Hovercraft
News Archive
Published:
July 31, 2007
Burnham-On-Sea
hovercraft rescues trapped family of three
 A
family of three stranded in mud onboard a fishing boat at Brean
was rescued by Burnham-on-Sea's hovercraft on Tuesday afternoon
(July 31st).
BARB,
the charity that runs the hovercraft service, was scrambled at
2pm to help the family of three - all from Stoke-on-Trent - after
they had misjudged the tide and their 14ft fishing boat ran aground
over a mile and a half from the beach.
The
trio - a man aged 64, his son aged 36, and daughter aged 19 -
were trapped for several hours in hot sunshine.
 When
the family attempted to wade out across the mud to reach the shore
and began getting into difficulties, the alarm was raised by Brean’s
beachwarden.
The
Spirit Of Lelaina hovercraft, with a crew of two onboard plus
the Burnham Coastguard Mud Rescue Team, flew out [online
video] to bring the family back to the safety of the beach.
Burnham
Coastguard Officer Steve Bird said: "The family was stranded
in hot sunshine with no supplies or communications and were in
a potentially serious position. Once again, this incident demonstrates
the importance of having a hovercraft in this area."
The
hovercraft helped to tow the stranded boat up the beach.
Members
of the Coastguard Mud Rescue Team discuss another succesful rescue
with the crew of The Spirit of Lelaina hovercraft.
The
mud-covered fishing boat was towed away by its owners.
RELATED
LINKS:
Online video
of this incident
Burnham-On-Sea Hovercraft Official Web site
Western Daily Press coverage of this incident
BBC Online coverage of this incident
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