Four people have been rescued this morning after a boating accident off Sydney Heads.

The Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter was tasked by the Surf Lifesaving State Operations Centre shortly before 8.00 am this morning.  Police had received a Triple 0 call stating that a small group of people were on a boat and it was sinking off Palm Beach.  The phone then went dead.

The Westpac Life Saver and surf lifesavers conducted an extensive search around Palm Beach including the Pittwater and popular offshore fishing reefs but nothing was located. 

At around 8.40 am, Australian Search and Rescue in Canberra contacted the helicopter crew and advised that they were picking up an activated distress beacon south of Long Reef, closer to Sydney Heads.

The Westpac Life Saver tracked towards Sydney Heads and picked up the distress signal on the aircrafts communications systems. 

The crew picked up the signal and honed in on a location some five nautical miles off North Head where they found four people clinging to a small esky in the water.

There was no sign of any boat, nor was there any debris or fuel slick on the surface.

Two young male children were wearing lifejackets and one of the adults was holding on to a distress beacon.

The Westpac Life Saver crew were about to commence winching operations when they were advised that a Water Police vessel was on its way out, so the crew dispatched a Liferaft from the helicopter into the water near the group.

The four people climbed into the Liferaft and gave a “thumbs up” signal to the helicopter, indicating they were okay.

The rescue helicopter hovered overhead until the Water Police vessel arrived and the group were safely on board and heading back to Sydney Harbour.

Westpac Life Saver CEO, Stephen Leahy, praised the group for doing everything right.

“When they realised they were in trouble they contacted Triple 0 quickly.  When their boat sank, they had the kids in lifejackets and they found an esky to hold onto.”

“Most importantly, they had an Emergency Locator Beacon.  Once they had this activated, they were found quickly.  They’ve done everything right and we commend them.” said Mr Leahy.

Conditions at the time were noted as there being a slight ocean swell and the wind was at around 10 knots from the south.  

For more information, contact:

STEPHEN LEAHY
Chief Executive Officer
Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopters
Mob: 0406 353 266
Ph: (02) 9311 3499