Three men who were stranded on a uninhabited Pacific island for three days were rescued after they spelled out “HELP” on the beach using palm tree leaves.
They were spotted by a US naval airplane, who relayed the information to a search and rescue team based in Guam, who then transported them to the island of Pulap, military.com reports.
The Navy P-8 aircrew was launched early Thursday morning to look for the missing mariners, and found them after just two hours.
“Our combined efforts coupled with the willingness of many different resources to come together and help, led to the successful rescue of these three men in a very remote part of the Pacific,” said Lt. William White, Sector Guam public affairs officer.
The type of rescue conducted on Thursday is quite common. Since March 28, naval crews have saved 15 lives in seven search and rescue missions in the Pacific, and that’s just the Coast Guard 14th District.
“The Coast Guard 14th District covers an area of responsibility more than 12.2 million square miles of land and sea, an area almost twice the size of Russia,” said Jennifer Conklin, search and rescue mission coordinator at the Coast Guard Command Center Honolulu.
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