An RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew has rescued an elderly couple, after they were left stranded in their boat, surrounded by treacherous mud flats, off Karumba.
The Mount Isa rescue chopper was tasked to fly to the Gulf of Carpentaria around 3.30pm this afternoon, by Queensland Police Service (QPS) in Townsville, after they received a triple zero call for help from the elderly boaties.
It is believed the couple had been fishing and were less than two kilometres from shore, when they were caught by the outgoing tide and their eight foot tinnie became stuck on a sandbank.
“They were on firm sand and could be seen from shore, but nobody could reach them by boat or on foot. They couldn’t make their own way to shore either. Between them and land, there was a deep channel of water and tidal flats you can easily sink into up to chest height,” said RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter pilot Russell Proctor.
The aeromedical crew knew the couple, tourists aged in their seventies, had been stranded without shade for almost six hours and had run out of drinking water.
“We had to move quickly, but safely, given it was getting close to last light,” said Russell Proctor.
“Fortunately we were able to confirm the bar they were trapped on was hard sand so we were able to make a safe landing and a winch rescue was not required.”
The RACQ LifeFlight Rescue QAS Flight Paramedic examined the couple and confirmed they were uninjured and in good spirits.
They were airlifted to Karumba Airport, where they were met by QPS officers and taken into town.
The rescue mission entailed a 900 kilometre round trip for the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter, which covers vast distances to respond to emergencies from the Mount Isa base.
