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Air Canada Flight Diverts To Locate Lost Yacht

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • An Air Canada flight en route to Sydney diverted its path to help locate a yachtsman in distress after his emergency beacon alerted authorities.
  • The crew descended to 4,000 feet and engaged passengers, who loaned binoculars and searched from the windows, in the search efforts.
  • Their combined efforts successfully pinpointed the yachtsman's location by spotting his signal mirror, enabling rescue teams to find him.
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A wayward yachtsman is thanking his lucky stars this week after being spotted by crew and passengers of an Air Canada Boeing 777. The small sailboat left from near Sydney two weeks ago, headed for ironically named Eden on the south coast of New South Wales to the north.

The boat experienced trouble and an emergency beacon alerted the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which relayed the GPS position to the Air Canada jet. En route to Sydney from Vancouver, the crew determined there was enough fuel on board to help out in the search. They descended to 4,000 feet above the surface and began looking.

Mark Phelps

Mark Phelps is a senior editor at AVweb. He is an instrument rated private pilot and former owner of a Grumman American AA1B and a V-tail Bonanza.

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